May 31, 2006 9:17 PM
Maddy's singing
One last thing today - some of you have asked how Maddy's singing competition went.
Right before the second round last Friday, we realized that Maddy would not be able to participate in the third round - nor the part of the first prize which was singing the National Anthem at the Dulles Town Center for an audience of thousands. She is in rehearsal for a musical right now - Pippin (cleaned up version) - and there are performances on both those nights.
So we decided she would sing in the competition - for the practice and the fun - but we would not vote or ask people to vote so that she would not make it to the next round. At first she wanted to have everyone vote just for the excitement of winning, after which she would tell them she couldn't do it - but I explained that would be hard on the person who was chosen to take her place, knowing that she only got to the third round because Maddy dropped out.
So we just didn't vote.
Maddy was different than anyone else, anyway. They all sang songs by current pop artists that we never listen to. The girls had all the moves and gestures down, but their voices were not really that good. Maddy sang "I Can Show You the World" from Aladdin. She has such a wonderful voice - no kidding. She was really the best by far.
She is taking lessons right now from a teacher we were blessed to find who is trained in classical/opera, but also experienced with what is known in music circles as "Belt." That's the kind of style you hear from singers on Broadway - and that's the kind of singing Maddy does. But getting the classical training is good for her too as it adds more richness and range. Her teacher has sung opera and Broadway professionally and can slip in and out of both styles.
She is really stretching Maddy and Maddy was very proud to hit a high C at her lesson yesterday.
Maddy's favorite movie star is Doris Day. She is so innocent and optimistic - kinda like Doris Day in all her movies. Maddy is my number nine - and last birth child. I can't imagine life without her. She has always been pure joy to me. Homeschooling her this year has been a wonderful treat because she sings at lest 50 percent of the time each day!
