A talented and charismatic 13-year-old teen with a passion for singing and entertaining advanced to the semifinal round of the South Bay Teen Idol 2016 competition after her performance Jan. 10 in Los Gatos.
Morgan Hill native Monica Evans, an eighth grader at Valley Christian, performed “You Raise Me Up” by Josh Groban for her opening audition. The uplifting song is one she holds dear to her heart after losing her father to cancer one year ago.
“When I first heard the song and sang it in choir for my school, it made me think about my dad and how he loved me and took care of me when he was here,” said Evans, who sings with an ensemble choir at Valley Christian. “I was just happy when I came out of the audition. I was excited and confident (with my performance).”
Now, Evans—who sang in the gospel choir for the Bible Way Christian Center in San Jose—is among the Top 20, trimmed from a field that began with more than 30 contestants. The semifinals are scheduled for Feb. 13 and a select few will then compete in the finals April 2. The first-place winner will take home a $2,500 prize with another $500 donated to their school.
“She’s very talented. She’s an honors student,” said Monica’s mother Debbra Evans, who accompanied her daughter to the audition at the Addison-Penzak Jewish Community Center. “God has blessed her.”
Produced by the JCC, South Bay Teen Idol is an “American Idol” style competition that crowns the best teenage singer in the South Bay, as described on the contest website at apjcc.org. Teenage vocalists must be age 13 or older in grades 8-12 and live in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Mateo or Alameda counties to be eligible to compete.
From now until the Feb. 13 semifinal, Evans and other contestants will rehearse with coaches from South Bay Teen Idol to work on their chosen songs. Evans also works with her own vocal coach, Shelene Huey Booker, to continue to perfect her musical voice notes.
For the semifinal, contestants were told they must choose a love-themed song made as late as the 1980s, or a tune of any genre prior to that. Evans said originally wanted to select “At Last,” by Etta James, but another contestant had already chosen that song. So instead Evans plans to sing “Home” by Diana Ross from the 1978 movie “The Whiz.”
“I’m still working on it,” Evans said.
Locally, Evans has performed with the South Valley Civic Theater and sang the Star Spangled Banner at the Fourth of July “Fireworks on the Green” event a couple years back. She just returned from Los Angeles for an auditioning showcase in front of 17 Hollywood agents, directors and managers, and got 14 call-backs to return next month.
“When I first heard the song and sang it in choir for my school, it made me think about my dad and how he took care of me when he was here….I was just happy when I came out of the audition. I was excited and confident (with my performance).”
