Joyce Dodson, Sarah Payeur, Michel Gordon, Chad Kneller, Alexis Labarette, Thea Agnew, Denise Patterson, Tyrone Basnight, (Sitting) Don Williamson, Jamie Jarman, Andrea Griffith, Lisa Pratt (Winner), Sam Tang
Where do I begin? I love this group. We were together for two weeks and we bonded more than we thought possible. All of us are on facebook and keep in touch with the other.
When we came together that first day, we were feeling each other out to see who the competition was. It wasn’t long before we realized that we were all competition! There wasn’t one bad singer in the group. We all harmonized well with the other and it was just bodies full of talent in every practice.
Operation Rising Star is a competition that obviously has talent but once you are there in Virginia, competiting, it is about the votes. So, if you plan on competiting for 2010, be sure that you have a good network of people to vote for you. The winner of this year had 3 states and over 1500 friends on facebook voting for her.
The group of people that voted for who they thought should be in this competition picked a good group of talented people. There were other talented people that could have been chosen but this year is was the people you see above.
Every day we would have breakfast in the hotel. The van would pick us up and we would go to the theatre and practice. The first 5 days was practicing group songs and working a little on the second song we would sing if we made top 6. We were able to go to Ft. Meyers and work with the band, Down Range, to help us with our songs. We ate lunch and dinner at Vinny’s every day but Sunday. Then back to the theatre to work on other songs or choreography that Joey felt we needed to work on. It was an enjoyable time with our vocal coach, Joey Beebe. He was hilarious and joked and just made us laugh always! He taught me so much about my voice.
Half way through the second week I caught a sinus infection and went to the ER to get antibiotics. I lost my voice! So, I was basically out of the competition. I did make the top 6 but it was hard singing with my voice not where it should be. I did not make the top 3 though. Don Williamson, Jamie Jarman and Lisa Pratt. It was still an exciting time, after the shock and disappointment left us who weren’t chosen. It made me have a new found respect for the singers who didn’t make the top 6, yet dressed their best and got on the stage and still performed.
In the end, we all left winners. We were winners of our installation and came back home winners. To go as far as we did was awesome. Now it is time to check out Nashville again and see if I can get anything moving for me there. If not, I am completely fine with writing and selling Real Estate. I will always sing, whether it be on base for the military or at church or just around the house. Whatever or wherever I sing, I am blessed to have had the experience I did and meeting the wonderful people you see above.
