Clever Hansel Effect: The Modern Castrato Kim Petras on CBS Insider

Kim Petras was surgically castrated at age 16 following many years of hormonal experimentation. He is now a professional singer. Reminiscent of a prepubescent Michael Jackson, he is able to achieve and maintain a timbre and volume that was not attainable for me as a trained soprano at the height of my practice when I could sustain a tone for more than 1:15 minutes. He has a male-proportioned set of lungs and a child proportioned larynx that was never "cooked" at puberty. This provides him with the capacity to sustain breath support far more easily than a similarly sized female with female-proportioned lungs and an adult-sized larynx. I suspect also that the puberty suppression physically prevents damage to the connective tissues that may come from the increase in size itself (micro stretchmarks) and that allows him to use the force he does. Here is an example of his voice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc-MnuLOBx8. He would not sound the same as a historical castrato because he has also been given a high dose of estrogen long-term.

Here is one of the few recordings of a historical castrato voice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLjvfqnD0ws