Posted by madcityradio.com on September 09, 2008 at 15:00:21:
In Reply to: Madison student soaring on ABC posted by madcityradio.com on August 24, 2008 at 07:53:50:
Madison West senior nearly wins reality show
Madison West High School senior Tierney Chamberlain nearly made it to the top of the class Monday night in the ABC reality TV series "High School Musical: Get in the Picture."
Chamberlain, 17, was runner-up to first-place winner Stan Carrizosa of Visalia, Calif., in the show, a prime-time spinoff to Disney's phenomenally successful "High School Musical" film series. The TV finale was taped late this summer in Los Angeles; Chamberlain watched it at home in Madison with her family and a few friends, she said after the broadcast.
In her first solo performance on Monday's show, Chamberlain, wearing a red full-length dress, sang a jazzy rendition of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" -- a performance she was happy with, she told show host Nick Lachey after the song.
"I think I made my mom cry," she said, as cameras briefly cut away to shots of her family in the audience.
In his on-air comments, "High School Musical" director Kenny Ortega told Chamberlain, "You have all the dynamics, my darling, to be a major superstar."
Chamberlain and Carrizosa next performed a duet version of "Just Getting Started," a song from the new movie "High School Musical 3: Senior Year," opening Oct. 23. It's one of two tunes Carrizosa will record for Walt Disney Records as part of his first-place prize; he'll also star in a music video shown in the movie's end credits and he won a talent contract with ABC.
Chamberlain, who says she's glad to be home and "trying to relax," has filled her senior-year schedule at West with performing arts classes such as choir, music theory and theater. She plans to audition in November for the prestigious Berkelee College of Music in Boston and hopes to concentrate on vocal performance rather than a career in musical theater, she said.
Looking back on her experience with "High School Musical: Get in the Picture," "It was very, very stressful," she said. "They don't show how we worked these 12- and 14-hour days. But it was all worth it, and I was proud of how I did."
Seen by more than 250 million viewers in 24 languages around the world, "High School Musical" has become something of a cultural phenomenon among tweens and teens. In recent years the movie was turned into a play that's been a hit on many high school stages across the country. The sequel film, "High School Musical 2," has been seen by 195 million people globally.
(WSJ)