No longer "always the bridesmaid, never the bride"

This fall, the high school music department held it's annual fundraiser "Salmon Idol" for the 8th time. Every year except for two, I have been a contestant or a special musical number in the show.  I wasn't sure I wanted to be involved again this year, but Amanda really wanted to compete as a duet. Since she joined me last minute in the trio performance I did this summer at Choral Rendezvous in Challis, I owed it to her to do the same for her in response. 

She wanted to do the song "Sisters" from White Christmas--which I had never heard before. We practiced a few times before the audition in September, and then we rehearsed, memorized, choreographed and added costume pieces to our number.  And two days before the show at the end of October, I asked a young gentleman named Dylan to be a guest dancer in our song performance, too. We'd had a lot of practice and felt very prepared for the show on October 28. 

There were 12 contestants in the senior show (there's a junior show for kids who are 13 and under, too), and it was a spectacular show to say the least! There was lots of live music this year--accompaniments on the guitar, piano, and drums. There was lots of quality performances, and I felt honored to be part of the show. We were the only adults in the show this year besides one other contestant Ashley, which made it even more amazing to see the talent that was produced! The MC for the event, Camille, decided to do little video clips of each of the competitors to introduce them before their performance. We had to tell the audience a little about ourselves in 30 seconds. Here's that clip:  Introduction Video

We had a great time performing together, and I wasn't nervous at all. I was only doing it for fun, so I felt free from the pressure of winning or losing (like I've always felt in the past). You can watch it here:  Performance Video  After our song ended, Camille the MC asked us how we picked the song, and I told her that when I've picked the song to sing at Salmon Idol in the past, I've always been the bridesmaid and never the bride, so I let Amanda pick the song this year instead.

When it was over, all the contestants came back onto the stage together. Amanda and I were in the very back. We had already decided that with such good competition, we wouldn't be in the top 3 places. Camille announced 3rd place, and then 2nd place, and Amanda and I were whispering about who would be first when she announced it. We had no idea who she said, so we just stood there, waiting to see who would go forward. Then Camille said it again into the microphone, but because we were behind the speakers, we couldn't discern who she had said. Then one of the performers standing next to us, said that we had won. We just stood there staring at each other in disbelief, then I said "are you sure?!!". Everyone was now staring at us, and it was quiet in the gym. We walked through the other performers to the front of the stage, and stood there staring at Camille with wide eyes. We received our prize money ($100 to split between the two of us), and the audience was clapping, but we were just so shocked!!! It was priceless, for sure! I couldn't believe I had finally won!!! After all these years, I was finally no longer the bridesmaid!! ;)

Emmy--3rd place, Shania--2nd place, Kala & Amanda--1st place winners

When it was over, and people started to leave, it felt so surreal. Amanda and I had a few photos taken together to document the happy, shocking moment!

The responses we received were so varied... John, the high school music director and our friend, told me that I was finally a winner because I wasn't concerned with winning while I was performing!! Then Josh walked up and told me he couldn't believe we won because he wouldn't have placed us in the top 3. I was irritated that he would say that (but weeks earlier, when I told him what song we'd be singing, he said "you'll never win with that", so I guess he never thought it was possible)!! But thankfully, lots of other audience members came up and told us what an outstanding job we did and how much they loved our performance! Amanda called her parents to tell them that we'd won, since they hadn't come to the show, and her mom said "But you told me you wouldn't win!!!". She was sad that she'd missed it, because she's come to watch Amanda when we performed together in the other years!

Amanda and I love singing together, and this was just a big bonus to win while having fun with her! I admit, receiving 1st place felt validating for my soul because I've been feeling so deflated musically lately ever since I got demoted from my music teaching position at the elementary school. I treasure this moment in time I have with my dear friend: singing, dancing, and performing together (and now I think I officially need to see the movie "White Christmas", since that's where our winning song came from).