Butterflies the size of Mothra!

Well its finally here. The finals. I actually signed up for this.

A couple of months ago I heard Country Dan mention 'the' kareoke contest, but it was in the back of my head, not fully in my consciousness. I rarely go out on Tuesdays and that was when the contest was going to be running. Moreover, it would be taking place at the Eagle, and I rarely go in there. It was truly by accident that I was there for the opening of the contest. I had to speak with Jeffery (Dan's partner) about seeing if the Sisters (he's a member of the Russian River order of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence) might be open to a certain charitable work. So I was there when the contest started. I figured what the hell, I love to sing. Why not? I get up to the mike almost every Thursday at the Triple R. However, I never expected to win.

It was judged. I sang "Someone to Watch Over Me", as far as I'm concerned one of the most beautiful ballads ever penned. The Gershwin Bros. certainly knew how to write! There were 8 entrants and after it was all over, mine was the first of 2 names they called. You could have knocked me over with a feather. So I'm now a finalist for River Idol 2004. I went home wondering what on earth I had gotten myself into.

After 6 weeks, tonight is the final competition. 10 finalists. I was the first, but far from the last; there are some powerfully beautiful voices in this competition. I never realized when I got up to mike, I'd want to win this so much. Must be more of an 'alpha male' than I thought. In the years since I did musical theater and the coffeehouse circuit in the northeast, I'd forgotten how much of a high applause is. The joy of wrapping my voice around a song was never forgotten - playing with notes, giving life to the lyrics never stopped being a delight. However, applause is a heady drug and I'd forgotten just how much fun it is to experience.

The butterflies in my gut right feel like they're the size of Mothra! Ray didn't help matters any last week when he announced, somewhat cryptically, there would be a few surprises tonight. Like at least one gig (perhaps more) for the winner to perform at, elsewhere.

Tonight, I will give it my all. I wish I had saved the song that landed me in the finals, for the finals, but 20/20 hindsight being what it is, I did not. I think I've decided what to sing, but we shall see tonight. I've been turning this one over in my head for the past month and have been through more possibilities than Heinz has pickles. (Geez, I think I just dated myself with that idiom!)

Time to put this into the back of my head. I HAVE to get some work done.