My Daughter's Dream

Kynzi has been asking me for the last couple of years to try out for America's got talent. She wants to sing. She loves to sing. In our house her singing can be heard at a near constant.

She has truly develop a beautiful voice that is uniquely hers over the last year or so. We headed out to Los Angeles at 4 this morning. She had a 7 o'clock appointment to try out for The Voice. You know, the show where Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, for Pharrell Williams and Christina Aguilera sit in chairs facing the audience listening to a voice singing blindly and pressing buttons and spinning the chairs around? How exciting is that?!

Besides having a beautiful voice, Kynzi has a gift for remembering lyrics. When she was five or six years old she heard Jack Johnson singing a song on  the David letterman show. The next day she sang the song verbatim. I couldn't understand it. She may not have the gift of retaining the fact she needs to do her chores every day, but she can retain lyrics like nobody's business.

When we got to the convention center at about 6 AM there already about 300 people in line ahead of us. The line kept filling up quickly over the next hour. At about 6:45 we made some forward movement. They started letting people inside of the convention center. When we finally got inside the line snaked around a little until we reached the stairs. That's where friends and family had to stay behind unless you were a parent of a minor.

We made our way up the stairs showed our identification and got placed in a holding room. There were six sections that seated about 150 people each. We were in the third section. While standing in line and sitting in our seats we chatted with other singers around us. One girl shared how she had tried out for The Voice two times already and American Idol three times and America's Got Talent twice. She great attitude saying that each time it was a great learning experience.

At one point someone with a guitar had started playing and all six sections began to sing Sam Smith's "Stay with Me" which was pretty cool. Everyone there was excited to see if their dream would become reality.

Of course we had to take a selfie in front of the Voice sign. A news reporter took our picture and got our names. For some reason I didn't ask who he worked for or where it would be posted. Oh well. 

It was finally our turn and we made our way to the back of the room and then they shuttled us out to another holding area. We did not stay there very long, thankfully. Then we headed to a hallway with 9 others waiting our turn. 

We walked into a room where there were two rows of five chairs facing each other where the contestants would sit and the parents would sit in the back while a producer sat behind a table behind her laptop about 20 feet away. One by one the singers took their turn. It just so happened that all the singers in Kynzi's group were girls. I'm sure I am biased, but truth be told, she was the best one in the group! One of the girls in the group came up to her after and told how amazing she sounded. 

There was only one that would qualify for those first episodes of American Idol where you cringe. She was an older woman whose cell phone went off with an 80s TV show theme song during the first girl's turn. She told me she was going to sing the same song she sang for the Gong Show in the 70s. She got gonged then too. (she is in the video below)
Here is a little highlight video of our experience.

Kynzi got her turn. It was awesome! I was so proud of her. If you know me you know that my eyes began to well up. Ha ha. She chose to sing "You Know How I Feel" covered by Michael Buble. She had Christina Perri's "Thousand Years" ready to go, but they got one song. American Idol judges have often said, "It's all about the song choice." Both were the right song choice for her. She gave me permission to post her audition. Enjoy. 

Sadly the producer said, "There is a lot of potential in this group, but unfortunately no one will be advancing this time." Oh well. Next time. She's 15 and has plenty of time to develop her voice and keep trying. Who knows?

We did see one guy, one of the few who didn't look like a typical singer, who got a "red ticket" and advanced to the next round. Kinda cool. Kynzi was totally cool after, bummed, but good with it. We then had to head out to a highly yelp rated crepe place for some brunch and then to Salt & Straw ice cream! This is the best ice cream on the planet!! Based out of Portland, they opened this one in LA in September! A little piece of our old home!!

Kynzi had dreamed of trying out for a singing competition for a long time. I'm so happy for her. 

What's your dream?

What's keeping you from your dream?