Singer, songwriter super-uber talent Micaela McCall grew up in a very musical family in Centerville, Ohio.
Happily for us, she ended up in Santa Barbara where she teaches music at DeTar Music.
Now we have another reason to claim her as our own.
You see, Micaela was singing with her pianist, Keith Bush, as one of Santa Barbara’s unofficially acclaimed Parking Lot Troubadours.
The duo were performing in the Lobero Theatre parking garage on the second level overlooking the 900 block of State Street.
Micaela was singing “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Misérables.
The voice caught the attention of passersby, and one local pulled out an iPhone to record Micaela and posted it to TikTok. The caption read “Internet, do your thing … who are these talented people?”
The video went viral, and then — here’s the fun of a small town filled with music — people did figure out the piano player (the signature scale run?) that then led to uncovering Micaela. Click here to view the video.
And then it grabbed the attention of American Idol, which in turn tracked down the singer and actually invited Micaela to audition. How is that for a note of encouragement?!
You will see it all Sunday night on American Idol Season 22, which premieres at 8 p.m. on KEYT Channel 3.
Micaela will be interviewed by Katy Perry, who was pleased to find another contestant from her hometown, Santa Barbara.
Which now leads us to our next story.
Teen Star USA Launched by Joe Lambert
Joe Lambert, an alum of Dos Pueblos High School, launched a singing contest for all local junior and senior high students as a means to promote the show he was producing.
His competition started out as Teen Idol — nomenclature used since those first singing celebrities in the 1950s (Pat Boone, Ricky Nelson, Elvis Presley) attracted teeny boppers as heart-throbbing fans.
The first show held at Dos Pueblos High featured 10 finalists in a sing-off competition. It was a such a huge success, Joe held it a second year, but had to move to Santa Barbara High School with its bigger theater.
Two years after that, the competition needed a bigger space and moved to The Granada Theatre downtown.
It also needed a new name.
It seems, The Suits at American Idol caught wind of the Santa Barbara songsters, and sent a “cease and desist” letter. (Apparently, they felt they had exclusive use of the word “Idol.”)
Joe couldn’t see spending the money to fight to keep the name, so he just switched it to Teen Star.
And he moved the growing show to the Arlington Theatre.
Joe’s guiding light — his Teen Star — became a beacon attracting hundreds of kids from throughout Santa Barbara County who audition each year before three preliminary judges.
Ten finalists and two alternates are selected to perform before three celebrity judges on stage. The judges give feedback, both compliments and helpful critiques.
Then the audience votes for the top three finalists who sing again, and then the audience votes for their favorite Teen Star.
If you are thinking these will be awkward student performances, with each taking turns warbling before a microphone … you’d be oh-so on the wrong page.
These are hot-ticket, packed auditorium, professionally produced shows (directed by David Jenkins) with a full-cast singing and dancing in the opening number.
Then a video montage is shown for each singer at the start of their solo.
Concluding the individual performances, the audience votes for their favorite singer … and voila! — a new Teen Star.
What is so unique about this competition is that Joe arranges for the student finalists to be coached with a mentor on how to select a song, how to style a song, how to work with a microphone, etc.
And then, Joe taps the best in the field to work with the students as mentors:
- Studio recording producer Dom Camardella
- Rock star Kenny Loggins
- Songwriter and record producer Ben Margulies
- Singer Táta Vega, featured in 20 Feet from Stardom
- Guitarist/producer Tariqh Akoni
- J.R. Richards, lead singer songwriter from Dishwalla
- Grammy Award-winning songwriter/producer/arranger Barry De Vorzon
Incredibly, these pros volunteer all their time to mentor and guide the students for the weeks before the show.
They will coach the kids on how to refine and express their sound, how to move and posture, and sell their song. It is an amazing experience and training that these finalists receive.
These youths are only junior high and high school students, and, interestingly, they are singing in all genres: pop, rock, jazz and Broadway.
Two years ago, 12-year-old Melody Holario of Lompoc won over the crowd singing traditional ranchera songs. (And she didn’t speak a word of Spanish.)
So what brings us to American Idol is that some of these Teen Star winners went on to audition on the show, starting with 2011 Teen Star Bear Redell of Santa Ynez.
The 2019 Teen Star Sofia Schuster was seen in her personal audition conversing with Katy Perry about their hometown.
Local favorite and Teen Star 2016 Jackson Gillies of Santa Barbara also made it into the show. Here is his audition:
But wait, there’s more!
American Idol’s Randy “Dawg” Jackson made it into the Teen Star show! — as one of the celebrity judges on stage.
Jackson and the American Idol team have been so impressed with the Santa Barbara talent that they now offer an incentive for the Teen Star second-round finalists.
Joe’s top three contestants — the Second-Round Teen Star Finalists — are promised the opportunity to virtually audition directly for the executive producers of American Idol.
If this sounds like a wonderful story altogether, well, it is.
And you can hear more about this from Joe Lambert directly as he will be the keynote speaker at the Council on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse’s 13th annual Gratitude Luncheon next month.
The Gratitude Luncheon, which will honor mentor Kenny Slaught with the Penny Jenkins Mentor Champion Award and raises funds for CADA’s mentorship program, is scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. March 6 at the Belmond El Encanto at 800 Alvarado Place in Santa Barbara.
Click here to purchase tickets online, or click here for more information.
