Clash of the Choirs

Last weekend I auditioned for a reality show. And, that is something I never thought I’d say. NBC is producing a show called “Clash of the Choirs” which will air in December. It’s a competition where singing celebrities build amateur choirs from their hometowns to compete for the title of “America’s Choir”. The winning celebrity will have $250,000 donated to the local charity of their choice. The organization I work for was in the running with Children’s Hospital to be Nick Lachey’s charity. I’m sad to say we didn’t get it. From what I hear, Children’s Hospital has lots of supporters and a billion dollar endowment but Nick Lachey has a family connection there. So what if we vented a little frustration by posting defaced pictures of Nick Lachey in the office. We’re not bitter or anything. We’re very disappointed but I will still support our hometown with my votes.

Practices are in Cincinnati and the show will be filmed live in New York City. I was drooling over that trip to New York City. I “was” drooling, past tense, so obviously I didn’t make it. I was bummed. I haven’t sung in a choir since high school (over 10 years ago!!). I love singing in a choir and I do miss it. Although, I’d rather keep singing in the band at church since I don’t have time to do both.

The audition was a fun, once in a lifetime experience. They were only taking the first 300 people that showed up at Walnut Hills High School. The doors opened at 9:00am. Jason and I didn’t know whether people would get there the night before and camp out, but we decided to take our chances and get there at 6:00am. We were fourth in line. We set up our lawn chairs and waited. It was fun to get to know some of the others in line. There were people of all ages, shapes, sizes, races and backgrounds. There were a lot more women than men. There was camaraderie between us and everyone was very friendly and encouraging. Channel 5 News was there doing some live interviews.

The nine page application had us specify five songs we'd like to sing. Several of us had chosen “O Holy Night”. The 20 year old singer/songwriter on one side of me sang “Killing Me Softly” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” in her raspy alto. On the other side The 40 year old choir director sang “I Can Only Imagine” and “Amazing Grace”. The gorgeous blond, first in line, sang “Silver Bells” and “Unbreak My Heart”. The last three pages of the application were a contract where you signed away your life to NBC. Seriously. By signing you agreed that they could use your image and distort it until it was unrecognizable. They made you agree that they could use any of your information, image, performance etc., now and forever in any media format ever created in the universe. They actually used the word UNIVERSE!

A lady in a chicken suit showed up. She was truly entertaining. She does singing telegrams for a living. She did an interesting rendition of Happy Birthday with clucks instead of a chorus. Of course, the cameras loved her. We did an impromptu Chicken Dance that might make the show, so tune in for that. She was an older woman and hoped to make a case for being the “choir mom”.

I was part of the first group of four. We entered a small classroom and stood in front of a table of three producers and a cameraman. One by one they asked us to sing a few bars of the song of our choice. Mine was “Broken Wing” by Martina McBride. I was shaking with nerves but still satisfied with my performance. The other three women also sang well. They asked two of the women to step in front of a music stand and sight read a line of music. I knew I hadn’t made it when I didn’t get instructed to do so. They took the beautiful black girl who sang “I Believe I Can Fly” with lots of runs and embellishments. It wasn’t very choir like and she hit a couple of sour notes, but it’s obvious she is very talented. While she went on to an interview, the rest of us were told they had all they needed. I wasn’t terribly disappointed. The choir is being narrowed down to the 20 best singers. I’m sure there are well more than 20 people in Cincinnati that can sing better than me. Since this is TV, I also suspect they were also looking for the youngest, best looking, talented Cincinnatians and that does not include me. I’m not trying to self depreciate, I’m just being realistic. It didn’t hurt my pride one bit. I felt bad for the other two women with me. The 20 year old singer/songwriter had been there since 1:00am waiting for her chance and I had seemed very confident that she was in. I’m pretty sure the beautiful blonde spent some time crying in the bathroom.

We just grabbed up our lawn chairs and said good bye to the chicken lady. We went to Santorini’s for some pancakes and goetta. I’m surprised that I had the courage to go through with it. I’m so glad that I can watch the show and not have to wonder what if….

The great news is the daughter of my co-worker DID make it! She is a vocal education major at Miami University. I am so thrilled for her!

I hope the show does well, but I have my doubts. I don't know how much of a market there is for choir singing. We will see a surge of unscripted, reality shows soon because of the writer's strike. I will be watching and voting.

We Got It!

After much negotiation, we got the house! Now we just need it to pass inspection.

Offer

We put an offer on the house yesterday. We hope to hear something tonight. Of course they'll reject our initial low offer. If it's meant to be it will all work out. Thanks for all the encouragement and support.

The House Search

So we decided it would be best to put off purchasing a house until after the first of the year. Our apartment lease is up in February. We’d know what our income tax situation was. We could continue to save $500 a month and comfortably get whatever appliances were needed, buy paint, curtains etc. Then, I got an email notice that one of our favorite houses, in our absolutely favorite neighborhood went from $99,900 to $89,900! If only I hadn’t signed up for those email updates we wouldn’t be in this situation, but we might’ve lost our house.

Is it the right house? We’ve agonized over this. We love everything about it, except that the kitchen is small and there is outdated carpet upstairs. It’s all stuff we can live with. It has all of our essentials – a dishwasher, a covered porch for a swing, a dining room, space for an office, and a place to have small group Bible studies. It has new windows, newer roof and furnace, nice carpet, is clean, and is freshly painted. It is the best house in this price range in the right area. The problem is a few months and a few thousand dollars. Jason’s parents have generously given us an extension on the little bit of money we owe them. We may have to go a little bit into debt (besides the huge obvious debt), but only if something comes up like a major car repair or doctor bill. Other than that we will be close to even. We don’t feel like we can put this off. The house is an estate. They obviously want to move it, and fast.

This is one of the hugest decisions a person can make. We will be entering into a 30 year agreement! A mistake could cause a major ruckus in your life. I’m trying so hard to seek God and his will for us. I’m afraid that we started looking for a house too early, maybe out of greed or selfishness, and jumping the gun will bring dire consequences. Or, did God put it on our hearts to go ahead and start looking so that when the right house came about we’d be ready? I hope that because I am truly seeking him and wanting to make the best decision that he will give us clear direction. I know all to well how I can make up my own mind about what is best and then attribute my ideas to God. It’s hard to know what’s coming from one’s own selfish desires and what is coming from him.

The plan is to walk through the house again, this time with our parents, on Sunday. If no one can find anything major wrong, we will place on offer contingent on a house inspection. We need them to pay closing costs and the remainder of our lease. If they take our offer, and the house passes inspection, we’ve got it. If it’s not meant to be, a door will hopefully close along the way. Until then, I wish I could stop thinking about it! I’m stressing way too much!

Dancing With the Stars

Do you watch it? I record it and then watch it every Tuesday night with my Mom at my place. Mom’s house is a little chaotic since my sister’s family is living there right now with their three young children. It’s hard for her to sit and enjoy a TV show without many interruptions and kids running around. I love to have her over to my peaceful apartment where she can relax and not think about all the things she has to do around the house.

She comes to my place directly after working 8-10 hours doing nails at the salon. I always have dinner ready and waiting. I can experiment and try new recipes on her since my picky husband is away at youth group on Tuesday nights. It feels good since she fed me wonderful home cooked meals my whole life and now I can treat her in that way. I took it for granted at the time and complained when she served roast and mashed potatoes AGAIN! Now I ask her to make me her wonderful roast and mashed potatoes each year for my birthday. If I was on death row, I would request it as my final meal.

After dinner, we settle in to watch the show. We raise our eyebrows and give each other looks when we see some of the skimpy costumes as they enter the dance floor. We have a running commentary, critiquing and praising the dances. We give them the scores we think they deserve and then predict the scores they will actually receive. Then we debate whether the judges are fair or if the whole thing is fixed. Since we don’t watch it the night it airs, we don’t have the benefit of voting, which is frustrating sometimes, especially when someone we like goes home. The benefit to watching it on Tuesdays is we don’t have to wait a day to see who gets voted off.

I don’t know what it is about these nights, but they’re magical. At the end of the night, I feel satisfied and refreshed. Mom hit the nail on the head when she said these nights are like therapy.

I hope the show goes on another 50 years! Although, if the outfits get any skimpier, they will be wearing nothing by 2015!