Written by Sara Tracey of The Press of Atlantic City
Nancy Malcun remembers watching Kelly Clarkson on the final night of her season of “American Idol” in 2002. Between squeals of excitement and teary hugs, Clarkson, the first winner of the Fox reality singing show, sang “Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this.”
Malcun was only 9 or 10 at the time, living in Michigan and hoping to fill Clarkson’s shoes one day the way she filled black-and-white composite notebooks with original song lyrics.
The now-26-year-old Absecon resident still has those notebooks, tucked in a drawer of her in-home recording studio, and still has a dream to grace the “American Idol” stage.
Several South Jersey singers, including Malcun, plan to audition for the final season of the talent show. Executives with the show are holding live auditions in Philadelphia this weekend for the 15th season.
Malcun will not be standing among the throngs of maybe-stars at the Liacouras Center starting Sunday. She’ll be heading to the city a little early to sing for a “silver ticket” at the Fox 29 news studios, which guarantees her an audition with “American Idol” producers.
Not that Malcun hasn’t tried to get a record deal in the past. She plays regularly at area restaurants and music venues, up to six days a week in the summer. She’s auditioned before, both for “American Idol,” twice, and for NBC’s “The Voice.” Even if she doesn’t make it to Hollywood, she hopes any kind of exposure will catch the ears of someone who can sign her to a record deal or otherwise advance her music career.
“It’s an opportunity on a bigger scale for someone who’s normal, like me, to be able to have that opportunity to make it big,” she said.
As of Tuesday, she wasn’t sure what she might potentially sing for judges Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick, Jr. She’s been told her voice is similar to that of acoustic pop-y, R&B singer Tori Kelly. But Malcun says she’ll sing just about anything — country, ’90s pop, current Top 40 hits, she sings them all.
“American Idol” is a reality program where even the losers can be winners, when compared to other talent-based shows such as “The Voice” and “America’s Got Talent,” said Linwood-based vocal coach Sal Dupree.
This year, Dupree said six or seven of his students, who live from Cape May County to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, will be auditioning.
“I try to explain to my students, not always the best win. In 15 years of ‘Idol’, you’ve had eight losers that are superstars,” he said. He was talking about now-household names who didn’t get the title of American Idol, such as Jennifer Hudson, Clay Aiken and Adam Lambert.
He said since the second season of “American Idol” he’s had about 15 students make it to Hollywood week, the second round of judging and narrowing down of the contestant pool. That week, he says, is the toughest part of the audition process, with singers starting in the afternoon and not sleeping until 3 a.m.
He’s kept in touch with the students who make it to Hollywood week — Egg Harbor Township natives Joe Catalano (Season 7) and Christian Foti (seasons 11 and 12), for example — via Skype, making sure they’re at the top of their game. He’ll do the same with any of the local contestants who fly out to Hollywood this last time, too.
Before Hollywood Week, however, Egg Harbor Township teen Niyah Timberlake will need to stand out among the hundreds of other singers who will join her at auditions in Philadelphia this weekend.
Timberlake, a 16-year-old musical theater student at Charter Tech High School for the Performing Arts in Somers Point, will drive to Philadelphia with her cousin, Larry, who also wants to sing for the judges, and her mom.
Like Malcun, Timberlake has her own “American Idol” idol. Jordin Sparks was only 17 years old when she won the sixth season of the Fox show. Timberlake looks up to Sparks because she said they have similar rich, deeper female voices. She hopes her smoky voice and her song choice — “Back to Black” by the late Amy Winehouse — will set her apart.
She said she’s upset there won’t be more seasons of “Idol,” not only because it’s one less recourse for aspiring vocalists. She said she’d rather her voice mature a little bit: A 20-year-old Timberlake may sound better than the 16-year-old vocal chords she’s working with.
“I’ve been watching this show since I was 8 years old,” Timberlake said. “It makes me so sad that there won’t be any more seasons.”