Impulsive Joy

Some days are indescribable.

While waiting in line for rope drop at Hollywood Studios this past week, something unexpected happened that changed the family plans for the day.

My husband and oldest son had excused themselves to run to the restroom prior to entering the park, which left my youngest son and I to hold our places in line. I was deep in thought regarding how we would strategically be among the first families to ride “Aerosmith’s Rocking Roller Coaster” when I looked up to find a videographer and roaming reporter asking me, “Can you sing?”

Hollywood Studios now has a new attraction called the “American Idol Experience”….. Let me just state here clearly that I had NO plans of attempting this “experience” during our time in Walt Disney World. But when the camera man panned down to my sweet and all-knowing 8 year old and asked, “Can your mom sing?”…..well, Tyler immediately answered an enthusiastic “Yes!” (And he kinda added a “duh” look as if the cast member should have already known the answer…)

My entire family was all too enthusiastic to give me over to the American Idol roaming reporter. Suddenly a vortex had me by the hand and whisked me through the crowd…..all along trying to get other “contestants” (a.k.a. suckers) to join in the “fun”. I looked helplessly at strangers as if to say, “I’m not sure what is going on right now….and I think I would like to take the chicken exit off of this ride!”

After successfully singing 2 bars of music in front of a screen, I was told I “passed” the initial screening and was going on to meet the producer.

A very Hollywood looking young man led me into the park before it was even officially opened and instructed me: “Please sign this waiver. Here is a list of songs you can choose from.”

(Great.)

The next stop was a swanky behind the scenes studio full of auditioning rooms where hundreds of wanna-be contestants would go through the preliminary screening process throughout the day. A small group of us who had by-passed the masses were given an iPod and told to select 2 songs to sing for the producer.

(Just pick something easy….just pick something easy….get outta here fast. Maybe the producer will put me out of my misery and I will be able to enjoy the rest of my day….?)

On to the Producer’s lair – a small office with a Karaoke machine, a flat screen on the wall and a microphone for me. Two songs later, the Producer pressed a button on his desk that automatically played a video of Ryan Seacrest congratulating me on going on to the “show”.

(What have I gotten myself into? This is the most frightening ride in the entire park….)

On to the 11:00 AM show…the first one of the day. After going through hair & makeup and a quick round with a professional vocal coach, I was given a verbal run through of the show. We all had one sound check and quick stage blocking. Before I knew it, I was back stage and heard the “warm up” guy working the crowd. No turning back. There was a theater of nearly 2,000 waiting to cast their vote for their “American Idol”.

I wanted to vomit.

I found comedy relief in my stressful situation when I was informed that the name of our host was really Ryan but they had to call him Chris for copyright reasons. Believe it or not, we even had an English judge that they called “SJ” because his real name was also Simon. That was hysterical.

The judges are pretty similar in their roles as to what you would expect on the real American Idol show. Two very sweet and enthusiastic youth took the stage before me and did very well. They were criticized for pitch mainly and my heart ached for them as the judges let their words fall on their impressionable hearts. I think they were 14 and 17 years old…..I can’t imagine having the courage to do something like this at that age.

My rendition of Pat Benetar’s “Hit Me with your Best Shot” received praise from 2 out of 3 judges. SJ, of course, played his role well with criticism designed to make the audience “boo” at him. When the world stopped spinning, I was announced the “winner” by popular vote.

(Wait…..What? What just happened? I have to come back for another show?? The Finale?)

When I went backstage to be informed of all the particulars for the Finale Show where 7 of us would reconvene to crown the daily American Idol Experience champion, a very nervous young boy walked into the green room and started to talk with me about what I had experienced. It was evident that he was in the second show and was anxious to download any advice from my recent “win”. I was still so shell shocked from my whirlwind adventure that I didn’t quite register all of his questions but encouraged him to have fun (even though I wanted to keep a brown paper bag in my back pocket the entire morning in case my stomach turned on me completely).

The Grand Finale show was another dream-like roller coaster. Three of us were moms, the other four contestants were teens. As soon as I was told I was the dreaded first up to perform, I knew my ride would soon be over. I worked up the crowd for the others to follow and received praise from all judges. Even though I knew the first slot to perform was the worst to draw, I was finally able to ENJOY myself when my turn was over….which freed me up to applaud, encourage and support the others who remained.

Several of the teenagers were encouraged to continue in their craft by the judges – that they had real talent that could mature into whatever they wanted. What a gift of encouragement!

After we crowned the winner of the American Idol “golden ticket” and the confetti had fallen on the stage, I quickly exchanged information with the other contestants and exited the theater. To my surprise, in addition to enormous hugs from my family, that same lovely teenage boy that nervously chatted with me in the green room earlier that day sought me out. I had nearly forgotten about our exchange in the green room and my husband and boys looked at me as if to say, “Who is this guy?” As we talked I realized he didn’t make it to the finale, but had come back to support us all nonetheless. I told him to never stop singing. Never give up. I was taken aback that he would take the time to congratulate me for a great show and share with me his “American Idol” experience.

One of the finale judges commended me after my performance. She said that you have to make the most of your 90 seconds and just go for it. I couldn’t agree more…except that the 90 seconds I’m most proud about that day, unexpectedly came in the green room….encouraging the next generation in their journey. I just had no idea how important that brief exchange would be.

Turns out God didn’t have me at the American Idol experience for a “5 minutes of fame” phenomenon. Nope. He actually had me go through that day to remind me the importance of looking at who is coming up behind me…..and seize the most out of the opportunity to encourage them to be all that God designed them to be.

Are you finding those moments where God is asking your to pass the baton?