Sunday, March 4, was the day I got to audition for WIBI's Opening Act. I auditioned last year and made the cut for their eight semi-finalists, and ended up getting to sing before Addison Road performed on stage along with the other semi-finalists; Marc Patterson, Lexie Montgomery, Chrystal Groscost, Cammie Burden, Tabitha Cope, and Kaitlin Cleven. (Tess Boyer would have been the eighth one, but she was busy becoming a St. Louis Rams Cheerleader) This year is their fifth season, and they've grown A LOT!
The judging panel consisted of Andrew Patton, CEO of Patton House Entertainment and General Manager of InPop Records, and two of his Artist Managers: Tiffany Rockhold and Mo Thieman. This year's total registrations came to over 300 participants, and the judges have to narrow us all down to eight! (No pressure right?)
After an encouraging Sunday Skool with the BREAKOUT teens, I packed up Patricia, my tattooed ukulele, and started out for Mount Vernon. I arrived at Central Christian Church in Mount Vernon at around 11:45, so I was able to catch the tail end of their worship service. Their message was on how important volunteers are, so all the volunteers had the day off for Appreciation Day. Once the service was over, I got to join the line waiting to check in at the registration table for the auditions.
I may have gotten to the church early (check in didn't start till noon) but I still ended up in the third group. Hey, stay for a worship service and you never know how long you're gona be there! While waiting in line I got to say hi to my former dentist and his wife, and a couple friends of mine from when I lived in The Vern. Plus, it's always fun to see who all shows up for something like this!
While walking in to the auditorium, I saw Kaitlin Cleven from last year had shown up for this audition as well, so we reconnected and took our seats. She showed off the bling bling her fiance got her! (VERY impressive!) and had her guitar with her. This was the first year they let people audition with their instruments, which I thought was a really good idea. Grace McDowell showed up as well, and at first I thought Taylor Hicks had come to join us all! She came and joined us in the pew we were all sitting in as well. (Grace is on the worship team at Central)
This year shined a TON of incredible talent! Every beating second I felt like I was in a worship service for the whole afternoon! To me, THAT is what this competition is all about; not even for the competition, but to join the passion of the Body of Christ, bringing all of our talents together to praise Him! I got my turn at around 4:30.
Going into this audition I was in prayer about what song I wanted to sing. I really felt God's tug this year to do the song that He changed my life with, "He Will Carry Me", by Mark Schultz. This is the song that, when I first started in youth ministry and thought it was a great way to gain popularity, God dropped me flat on my face. While I was angry at Him and questioning why nothing I did was working, He used the radio to show me that I am a broken vessel, yet He wants to hold me together in His arms. Since rededicating my life to Him that night, my life has never been the same since, and I couldn't be happier! The version God has inspired me with can be found here: http://soundcloud.com/tim-sprinkle/he-will-carry-me-cover
The judges had to be picky this year with so many contestants, and it seemed like the theme this time around was the ole, "you played it safe". The response I got was, "It wasn't bad, but there wasn't one thing that really popped out at me either, all in all all it was just a good performance." I'm not sure what exactly to take from that, but I am thankful nonetheless. It is always a blessing to share what God has laid on my heart.
After the audition, each participant had to go through a light interview with Craig Norrenburg of WIBI. I felt a LOT more comfortable in front of the mic this year than I did last year, which is really odd considering last year I was DJing for another radio station at the time. We just had a lot of fun in front of the camera, and I think I even ended up mentioning Spongebob in the conversation somehow. (imagine that)
A family of one of the auditioners invited me to go with them to Buffalo Wild Wings, and being the shy one that I am, I totally said yes!
I am anxious to find out who goes on in the competition, and pray it will all be for God's glory. This year, the semi-finalists get to perform at Church on the Rock in St. Peters, Missouri, and open for Sidewalk Prophets, Josh Wilson, Mark Roach, and last year's Opening Act winner, Lexie Montgomery! The winner gets to open for AgapeFest 2012 in Greenville, Illinois this summer!
Lastly, I believe my question of the day went to GW of WIBI; "Wait, did GW get shorter?"
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