Star-Bulletin file photo
The gals of Tenderoni won Road To Fame
in 1995, as Westside Harmony.

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Karaoke Kids

The road to fame begins at
the Pearl City Cultural Center

By John Berger
Star-Bulletin

They say that the way you get to Carnegie Hall is practice, practice, practice. Many talented young hopefuls in Hawaii are finding Oceanic Cablevision's talent contests an important stop along the way.

Well over a 1,000 children have participated in Oceanic's "Kiddieoke-Plus" talent contest in the past decade. Many have found additional opportunities since Oceanic created the "Road To Fame Talent Search" for teens in 1995.

The biggest and brightest to date -- Damon Williams, Janel Parrish and Tenderoni -- were alumnae performers Sunday as Oceanic presented the 10th Anniversary before an enthusiastic crowd at the Pearl City Cultural Center.

Tenderoni had taken time off from recording in Los Angeles for a brief visit home and delivered an impromptu a capella performance of "Tonight." Williams shared the music from his solo debut album, "Love Is All," released just last week. Parrish dazzled the crowd with "Think of Me" from "Phantom."

Parrish was just 8 when she dazzled judges and the audience alike, winning Kiddieoke-Plus in 1996. She auditioned for "Les Miz" that same year; nine months with the national touring company included several weeks as Little Cozette on Broadway. Parrish turned 9 last week and is studying voice, dance and piano, but says she also enjoys "being a regular kid."

Star-Bulletin file photo
Janel Parrish won Kiddieoke-Plus in 1996, then
went on to star as Little Cozette in the national
touring production of "Les Miz."

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Tenderoni won Road To Fame (as Westside Harmony) in 1995, which brought the group to the attention of record producer Matt Young. The Waianae quartet appeared on the 1996 I-94 Brown Bags to Stardom album, released a local album, and signed a national recording and development deal with Tracey and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and Yab Yum/Epic Records this spring.

Tenderoni's first national recording, "Baby I," came out on the "Soul Food" soundtrack and is due for release as a single; the group's first national album is scheduled for release early next year.

"It was the biggest contest we'd been in and we honestly didn't expect to win, but everybody remembered seeing us," Jay said back stage at the Pearl City Cultural Center Sunday.

"It gave us more exposure than we'd ever had -- and that feeling, when you're waiting for them to call the winners ... We miss it," Dee said.

Williams was Road To Fame's solo winner in 1995, won Brown Bags XVI and also recorded with Young. "People knew me on Maui, but Road To Fame really gave me a jump start on Oahu. After that it was like the snowball effect. I did a concert with Keali'i Reichel in front of 10,000 people and then Brown Bags. Talk about the right doors being opened! It was unreal," he said on Sunday.

This year's winners

"We're going to record a Christian album together," 1997 Road To Fame winners Pomai and Loeka Longakit agreed backstage. The brother and sister duo from Hilo eased past the rapping Hilanders and energetic UBC B Boys dance team with a beautiful rendition of "Up Where We Belong."

Baton-twirler Christina Costello was a Road To Fame finalist two years ago. She teaches twirling and performs with the University of Hawaii band. She was ecstatic at being named winner in the solo category.

"This was the last year I was eligible, and how do you judge between singers, dancers and a baton-twirler anyway? I still don't know, but people don't know what you can do because nobody (in Hawaii) twirls. Now they'll be able see."

Broadway standards were the vehicles for 1997 Kiddieoke-Plus winners Jennifer Perri, 10, and Nina Ducharme. 8.

With luck, hard work, and plenty of "practice, practice, practice" this year's winners and some of the others will enjoy the success of previous winners like Heather Maldonado, who won in 1994. She appeared in "Porgy & Bess" at the Blaisdell Concert Hall and with Michael Jackson at Aloha Stadium in January. School is her priority, but she's appearing in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" this month at the UH Lab School in Manoa.

Isaac Calpito won in 1993 with a song from "Aladdin." He's now a Kamehameha Schools senior who's performed at Diamond Head Theatre, Manoa Valley Theatre and Army Community Theatre, and dances with Marcello Pacleb's 24-VII group.

"It's hectic as always, but it's his life and he loves it," proud mother Kim Echevarria relayed via cell-phone while doing chauffeur duty Friday. Her daughters, Tatiana and Nataysha, are also contest alumnae with active careers as models and actresses.

Claudia Vasquez and Chad Guerrero found Road To Fame a career-making showcase when record producer Peter Bergstrom discovered them during the 1996 preliminaries and enlisted them as members of Sunland. The group signed a national record deal early this year.

Aiko Schick, Road To Fame finalist in 1995, has been active in local theater and in John Rampage's Shooting Stars troupe at DHT; she's preparing for the Miss Hawaii-USA pageant on the Nov. 14.

Forte was among the also-rans in 1995. The popular quartet released "With A Child's Heart" last month as a CD-sampler fund-raiser for the Ronald McDonald House Charities. Gissele "Gee" Tejada says Road To Fame remains a bright spot on their resume.

"Just going through the preparation and performing for all those people was a great experience."

Keeping it in perspective

Competition is not for everyone. Not winning a contest can be a crushing experience, particularly when a parent is living vicariously through the child's success. Observers also note local "stage mothers" who come to depend on a child's earnings from commercials and television roles to supplement the family budget.

One thing that the most promising young stars seem to share are supportive parents who give them the chance to be kids too.

"We told Janel she could do 'Les Miz' as long as she wanted, but to let us know the minute she wanted to come home," Mark Parrish explained. "She had a great time for nine months and then she got homesick and missed her sister and that was it. We're looking at a few things that she's interested in doing, but for now she's enjoying being a kid."

Kiddieoke-Plus,
Road To Fame

The talent search finals will air on TV:
Time: 7 p.m. Nov. 14
Channel: Oceanic Cable 16
Additional broadcasts: Through Nov. 22