NOT Maplewood's Newest Singing Star

Aye carumba!  There is a lot of AMAZING talent in the Twin Cities "non-professional" singing world!  Last night's show was AWESOME (even if I didn't win). 

Me getting "in the mood" at home before the show!

I was COMPLETELY nervous, and freaked out, and tense right up until my song was finished.  I don't think I will EVER do one of these shows again...I spent all day (and the two weeks before last night) playing the cd of my song over and over and over and over, and still went blank just before I went on stage.  I got through it, it went well, and I NAILED my last few notes, but the tempo just wasn't where it was supposed to be, so it threw me off a little bit (suggestion for next year...let the soloists have more rehearsal time with the band...running through it the night of the show isn't enough, and adds BUNCHES to the nervousness...).

So...to backtrack a little bit.  My "styling session" at the salon was scheduled for 5:00, so I headed over to Maplewood.  My stylist was AWESOME.  I told her I was singing a showtune, so to give me a look that didn't make me look TOO gay (ha!).  I also asked if any of the other people in the salon were contestants, and she said "all of them", so I got a chance to scope out some of the competition. 

My "styling session" lasted exactly THREE MINUTES.  The cool thing is that that's all the time she needed to make me look COMPLTELY hot (not really, but it was a good look, and I'm going to try to do it myself).

Getting finished so quickly gave me an hour to kill, so I drove all the way to the theater, then realized I still had 53 minutes to kill, so headed to Maplewood mall, and walked around a bit, then headed back to the theater.  My friend Katy was also a finalist, so it was GREAT to have her to sit with and wait.  We all had a chance to run part of our song with Joan, the accompanist, and the band (bass and drums).  For some reason they decided not to put drums and bass in my song, so I just had piano...not sure WHY, because the drum would have been a nice touch, but OH WELL...

Katy and me before the show

This is the point where I started getting COMPLETELY freaked out...EVERYONE was AMAZING!  Warm-up after warm up was FABULOUS!  Each and every person was AWESOME!  From a "show" standpoint...TOP NOTCH.  From a "contestant"standpoint CRAPPOLA!  (I was SERIOUSLY trying to figure out where the nearest exit was so that I could get the heck out of there!).

After warmups, we got our performance order (out of 15 singers I had to go 4th...which SUCKS...if you're anywhere in the first 6 or 7, people don't even remember you sang by the end), and the show began.  My time to sing came WAY too quickly (me still clutching the sheet music backstage to go over the words!), and I "did my thing".  It actually went really well, tempo aside, and, as I said before, I NAILED my last few high notes, but then, as a stall tactic for the judges to get their scorecards filled out, the emcee asked us a few questions. (Ugh!).  My questions: 

• What's your favorite color?  ("Blue...sky blue, dark blue, all shades of blue".  How DUMB did THAT sound?). 
• If you had a million dollars, what would you spend it on?  ("A big house on a lake in lovely Minnesota"  SERIOUSLY, was I on drugs?). 
• Do you know any good Minnesota/ Iowa jokes? ("I do, but I can't remember any of them right now, and in Iowa we do Iowa/Missouri jokes."  Kill me now.)

AFTER my fabulous song, and DIMWITTED Q&A, I went back stage to wait (two hours) for everyone else to sing, for the audience to vote, for the judges to tally their votes, and for Alison Scott (a local singer) to perform a few numbers.  We all then marched out on stage, and the winner (not me) and runner up (also not me) were announced. (What would I do with 20 hours in a recording studio, with no band, or songs, or any idea of what to DO in the studio, or a "rock star" makeover, anyway...??!!).

Duane and me after the show

Overall, it was a GREAT experience, and it was really fun to be on stage (terror aside), and I had a fairly large number of friends from both school AND theater productions in the audience.  I met some really great people who were competing, and it was great to see Katy, and I LOVE the Maplewood theater, so it WAS a good experience...one I'm NOT ever repeating again!

Kristin, me, and Kim after the show

Rachel and me out for drinks (I needed one!) after the show

Me and Sarah (Pat's friend from Willmar)

Rachel, Kris, and me "sharing a moment"

Here's hoping YOU are being a risk-taker (to use the PYP lingo from school), and that you are meeting new people as you go through your days too!