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The School Newspaper of Harriton High School

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Greg’s Word: January

I was amazed that I even dared to try out for the talent show in the first place.  Although I sometimes perform for others during violin auditions or concerts, I had never really attempted anything quite like this.  Not only had I never sung in front of other people, but I had never even attempted to actually sing a song.  I am not going to lie.  I was rather nervous for my first audition.  Jesi Kim and I would be performing “Lucky” by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat.  However, on top of just singing the song, we would be interpreting it in American Sign Language as well.  Although Jesi came up with the idea of singing the song, I was the one who thought of signing it, as I studied American Sign Language last summer.  Learning to sing the song was definitely an interesting process.  We practiced by singing along with the YouTube video clip as well as the sheet music, which I played on the piano.  Although the YouTube video was sufficient for practicing most of the time, the sheet music was extremely helpful for working out the harmonies.

The audition was sort of a mess.  We initially had to restart, as the video camera was not actually recording our audition.  After starting again, during the middle of the performance my voice cracked on a high note.  This caused us (and the audience) to break out laughing, and we eventually found it impossible to continue with the performance.  Needless to say, we were very surprised to be informed a few days later that we had made it into the show.

Although there were several weeks between the initial audition and the show, we did not really practice for the show, as we were preoccupied with school and college applications.  However, we attended two rehearsals the week of the show.  This was the first time that we had ever performed on stage, as the initial audition was held in the lecture hall.  It was very strange singing into a microphone.

Jesi and I were both nervous the night of the show.  Although the auditorium was not entirely full, many of our friends and family were in the audience.  As we were to perform during the latter part of the show, we had to wait in anticipation while many of the other acts went.  It did not help that they were all very good, which made us really feel the pressure to perform well.  When it was finally our turn after intermission, it was pretty intimidating walking out on stage.  However, it was very exciting to start singing and signing and hear immediate applause from the audience.

Although we didn’t win, I would say that this was one of the best experiences I had in high school.  I really stepped out of my comfort zone performing and singing in front of others, and I have to admit that it was a lot of fun.  Although I am certainly not equipped to pursue a career in singing or music, I will never forget my moment in the limelight.

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