Lara VerHulst, a Spencerport resident and a student at Nazareth Academy, will never forget the summer of 2004. Accompanied by her mom, Mary VerHulst, Lara spent most of this past summer traveling the United States auditioning for the popular TV series, American Idol (AI). Lara first traveled to Cleveland, Ohio. She waited along with 10,000 other AI hopefuls for her chance to sing in front of the AI judges. This wait included two overnight stays on the floor of the Cleveland Browns stadium. “We arrived on a Monday night and I didn’t get to sing until 48 hours later,” explained Lara. During their wait, Lara and her mom met people from throughout the United States. She sang before a panel of three judges, all producers of the AI show. Of the experience Lara said, “I sang ‘I Believe in You and Me’ by Whitney Houston. I sang for about 20 seconds and the judge stopped me and asked me to sing another song. I sang ‘I Am Changing’ by Jennifer Holliday. I only sang for about ten seconds, the judge stopped me and said. ‘I’m sorry, I’m not putting you through.’ ” After hearing this news, Lara and her mom packed up their belongings and headed back to Spencerport. “I finished singing and we walked to the parking lot and left Cleveland.” Although this was not the news she had hoped for, Lara did not feel defeated. She was determined to audition again for AI. When the next round of auditions were announced, Lara, escorted by her mom, packed up and set off for Orlando, Florida. Like Cleveland, they faced long lines and long waits in Orlando. “Again, we slept on the floor, only this time it was the Orange County Convention Center,” said Lara’s mom. In Orlando, Lara sang before a panel of four judges, all AI show producers. She noticed one of the Orlando judges was also a judge in Cleveland. Hoping for the best, she waited with her group for their turn to sing. Lara was the last to sing. The judges asked her to sing two songs, and after she was finished, one judge said to her group, “I will only put one of you through and that is you,” as he pointed to Lara. Lara faced intense competition as she advanced to round two. During this round, competitors auditioned individually before two judges and also were videotaped. Less than 200 of the 10,000 people trying-out advanced to this level. Lara sang short excerpts from two songs, ‘I Am Changing’ and ‘I Believe in You and Me’. The judge commented that her performance was very good and said to Lara, “You are going to round three!” He also added, “I don’t know how well you will do because you are just very sweet.” Lara was passed through to round three and was one of 59 competitors to make it to this round. Round three was scheduled to begin again in ten days in Orlando. Energized and excited, the VerHulst duo of Lara and Mom, traveled back to Spencerport to rest and rehearse. Round three competition was postponed due to Hurricane Frances, but late in August Lara returned to this last round of competition to sing before celebrity judges, Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell. Dressed in a green and pink tweed skirt, a lace tank top and pink shoes, she stepped before these judges. Cowell asked, “Lara, you are 17. What are you going to sing?” Lara replied, “ ‘I Am Changing’ by Jennifer Holliday,” and began to sing. She sang for about 15 seconds. Jackson leaned back in his chair, asked her to stop and said, “No, you are just too theater for me.” Abdul commented, “I’m sorry, I just can’t tell your personality by your song.” Cowell added, “You have a good voice.” He hesitated and then said he was sorry. Lara knew the decision was made. She was going home. Lara’s not sure if her auditions will be included in the upcoming AI shows scheduled to air in January 2005. But, she does know that she will remember this as an “awesome experience.” Lara describes her AI adventure as an “emotional and physical roller coaster. I met some awesome people and was entertained by many different people.” Her most exciting moment was when she made it through to round three and received encouraging words from the AI judges, especially from Simon Cowell, the most critical of the three celebrity judges. Family members, friends and teachers all know how talented Lara is, but it was the judges’ comments that boosted her confidence. Lara has many people in her life who have encouraged her. She has her choir director at Nazareth Academy, Jeffery Wilson, to thank for getting her involved in the America Idol competition. “One of the biggest reasons that I went to AI was because Mr. Wilson believed that I could do it.” Wilson knew Lara had talent the moment he met her. “From the moment she first sang for me, I knew she had the most natural singing voice I’ve ever heard. I was in awe of her abilities.” Because of her talents, Wilson encouraged Lara to audition for AI. “She put it in her mind that she could do it. And she did!” said Wilson. She also feels her dance experience at LaDanse Workshop (LDW) and Nazareth Academy boosted her self-confidence so she could pursue singing. Tricia Bertino, director and owner of LDW, agrees, “Lara came to me as a very timid dancer. She is always willing to work hard, just very intimidated by new movements. She is a very beautiful dancer and human being and such a pleasure to work with.” Joanne Hartman, musical theatre director at LDW, discovered Lara’s singing talents. “Mrs. Hartman was the catalyst that launched Lara’s singing,” said Lara’s mother, Mary. Hartman heard Lara singing during a LDW trip to New York City. “She heard me singing with Ashley Reid, another LDW student, and Mrs. H. said we have to sing in the LDW recital.” Hartman believes that Lara is truly gifted. “From the moment I heard Lara sing, I knew she had been blessed. Her singing talent is a gift she was born with,” said Hartman. Lara believes this AI experience has sparked her enthusiasm for singing. Her future plans include making a demo CD to send to record producers. She plans on going to college next year. Her first choice is a college with a pre-dental program, but “my passion is singing.” So, in January, tune in to the American Idol Show aired locally on TV Fox 31, to see if the girl named Lara from Spencerport, New York wearing pink shoes makes it on national TV. |
