Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do(nuts)

I love to sing!  I seriously, seriously love to sing!  I had my first duet when I was in 8th grade.  Me and my friend Stephanie sang "Dear Santa Have You Had the Measles?"  for a Christmas choir concert.  It was the first time I heard my voice through a microphone.  There were no harmonies or special runs or anything like that in the song...but it felt soooooooo good!!!  When I was a freshman in high school (many, many, many moons ago) I had my first solo.  It was a song that was not in English...it was for a choir competition...and I did well I think.  That was when I had a breathy soft higher voice.  Of course my choir career came to an end when high school did and I left it alone for a long time.  Fast forward a few years and my husband meets this guy at work who tells him of a little thing called "karaoke" and invites us to a bar where he and his wife will be in a contest.  I was hooked!!!  An opportunity to be a rock star every thursday night starting at 10:00?!?!?!  I'll take it!!! Now I know there are some of you that think karaoke is lame...I definately disagree with that!!!  If you're not doing it for anything else but fun...then it really is...well...FUN!!!  When we first started frequenting this lounge ("bar" sounds so dirty!!!) I would have to get a few drops of liquid courage (in the form of a 7/7...or two...but never more than two...except for that one time...) in order to get up on the stage.  I hadn't sang (...sung???) in front of a crowd in years and I was very nervous...drunk people can be really mean!  But I slowly got used to it...slowly stopped drinking...and really started enjoying just singing.  What I noticed though was that my voice had really changed. The soft soprano girl in me had been eaten alive by this sultry, low pitched, (can I say sexified???), woman...and I loved it.  So I started practicing at home.  To songs from Toni Braxton, Anita Baker, and Gladys Knight.  (Pause for some free advice:  Don't ever do a Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston, or Celine DIon song...especially for a contest...no matter how good it is...it will never be as good as the original).  And those singers became my go to songs for different performances that I did.  Lately I have been singing only in church.  So when I saw that auditions were coming up for the annual City of Hope Spectacular (a local variety show) this year I decided to do it.  (My New Year's resolution is to do all of the things that I have ever said "I've always wanted to do that" too) and to be honest I have been wanting to try out for this show since high school!  So there I went.  I chose "Misty Blue" (in the style of Dorothy Moore) because it is one of my favorite songs and I think I do it well.  I also really appreciate the emotion in the song and I feel like I can feel it when I sing it.  The sound system wasn't great.  There were no monitors for me to hear myself, but all in all I feel like I did a good job.  I am my worst critic so I will always find something wrong with any performance...but alot of people in the audience seemed to really enjoy it...and I had a really good time!  The critique from the director of the show was that my outfit didn't go with the song...what did I wear???? Black slacks and a white and black chiffon shirt....what did he want me to wear??? A cocktail dress!!!  Well it was my fault really.  On my audition application I said I would be wearing a cocktail dress...but seeing as how it's not easy for a fatty to find a suitable cocktail dress...I opted for the safe black pants.  If I make it to the show then I will be required to get a cocktail dress.  I think that's going to cause me to create a whole seperate blog!!!  We'll see how it goes.  If I don't make it it'll be okay too.  I auditioned for The Voice a couple of seasons back, obviously didn't make that cut but I wasn't crushed.  The other 9 people in the audition room were seriously 9 of the most talented singers I have ever heard!!! None of us made it!!! I know that they have to choose what makes for good t.v....and if you happen to have talent well that's just a bonus!!!  I don't have a backstory...I could say I'm a compulsive over eater, addicted to Dr. Pepper, and struggling to get it together...but I'm already putting that out for the world to see!!!  If I make it I'll let you know...thinking I'll even post a video here or on my facebook page if I can get my friend Joada to help with that.  We'll see how it goes!  Now I'm on the hunt for a cocktail dress.  Of course the first thing I thought was "how many pounds can I lose before the show" maybe this can be a good short term goal opportunity for me...of course if I get turned down I'm going to want to stuff my face with powdered donuts!!! Bleh!!!