Talent Show

In 1986, my school held a talent show, and I auditioned to sing. My mother helped me choose a song by playing for me everything she thought I could handle. As soon as I heard Father's Eyes, I knew it was the song I wanted to sing.

After several misfortunes with store-bought soundtracks, my father's frustration with the chord changes, and my uncle's schedule (which kept him out of town), I ended up accompanied by my music teacher's husband.

I sang through each rehearsal acapella. Our only time to practice together ended up being backstage immediately before the talent show. We sat down in a corner of the room. He started playing the song, and as soon as I started singing, the room grew silent. The entire room of loud, energetic kids stopped to listen to me sing. I still remember the churn in my stomach as all eyes zeroed in on me.

Fortunately, several kids told me they were impressed with my talent, and I was suddenly excited to soon be on the stage in front of an even larger crowd. When my name was called, I walked to the microphone and sang for the first time in public. My face turned red and a smile creased my face as applause roared from the audience.

As I walked down the side steps from the stage, my stomach agained churned. The ordeal was over, but my adrenaline was still pumping. I went back to the green room where I drank some punch and waited for my parents to take me home.

I talked the whole way home about how it felt to be on the stage in the spotlight. My parents and siblings listened to me ramble about how nervous I was and how exciting it was to hear applause for me. There was no doubt I was hooked on performing.

As soon as we reach our driveway, I climbed out of the car and felt that familiar churning in my stomach. I ran over to our neighbor's palm tree and threw up right there in front of my family. The spot stayed in the yard for several days, and in my childhood fascination, I inspected the scene of the crime each day to note the changes.

That wasn't exactly the ending I had hoped for on my first public performance, but it wasn't enough to deter me from auditioned the next time the school had a talent show. The next time around I was able to keep my food down.