Idol Whims
As promised, a review of tonight’s Spinners Idol competition, which took place at the Skybox in Tewksbury!
Every year, the talent scouts of LeLacheur Park come out to the ‘burbs to find songbirds for the upcoming Lowell Spinners baseball season. I decided to mosey down and try my hand along with the rest, have a few drinks, and listen to Frances Scott Key’s best-known ditty (which was actually just a poem at the time).
First off, I was VERY surprised at the turn-out! I got there at 6pm sharp, and was *26th* on the list! There were another seven or eight who wandered in after me as well. Everyone settled in for a few hours of auditions, as the Thirsty Thursday crowd and the Bruins game 7 bandwagon rolled in. The place was at capacity when the first contestant took the stage, an adorable toe-headed kid of about 8 years old who reminded me of the precocious little scamp from “A Christmas Story”, right down to the water-slicked part in his blond hair. No glasses though. It would have been incredible if he’d been toting a Red Rider BB Gun (with a compass in the stock), but his mom probably made him leave it at home. He was a great ice-breaker for the crowd, and had the adorable factor going bigtime.
There were some truly talented people there! One kid played the Anthem on a trumpet, a trio performed in a surprisingly chipper 3-part harmony, and there were a few well-trained voices in the crowd as well. The judges had balanced critique for everyone, and even through forty auditions, remained upbeat.
So how did I do, you’re wondering? Well. It could have gone better, to be sure. During the first 15 seconds of “Fly Me to the Moon” (my first song), the Bruins scored a basket (kiddddiiiinggg) and the crowd went from zero to deafening. No worries, I ramped it up and boomed right over them. This earned some bonus points from the judges. The Anthem? Mehh not so much. The trouble started when I caught a glance of my very excited stage mother-in-law singing along with me. For anyone who hasn’t had this happen, it’s kind of the equivalent of having someone yell random numbers at you when you’re trying to tally a stack of change: you IMMEDIATELY forget where you were 
Not so bad. “O’er the ramparts” became “And the ramparts”, but the show carried on. I had a pretty manky top note as well, owing to the fact that I left my falsetto back in the music room in high school and never remembered to swing by and pick it up. No worries. Like any true Sox fan, I’ll just say there’s always next year.
In the end, a girl with a REALLY fabulous voice won the chance to sing at opening night, as well as some studio time to record a demo. She was second runner up for the past two years, and this year was the charm. So if you’re at opening night on June 19th, rest assured you’re going to be treated to not only a great ball-game, but a truly lovely serenade to kick the whole thing off.
PLLLLAAAYBALL!
