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| • Young Performers Get Gentle Preparation For Reality TV | 01 Aug 2007 |
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NORTHFIELD, Mass. - NORTHFIELD, Mass. - Hundreds of star-struck teens have been finding a little bit of Hollywood tucked in small-town New England this summer. Homemade sandwich-board signs edge the country road leading to Idol Camp. They advertise pure maple syrup and sweet corn - $3.50 for a dozen ears. Just around the bend, not too far outside the center of town (population 3,000), the first glimpse of camp is a vibrantly blue Idol Camp sign hanging from an old-fashioned street lamp. The sign's color scheme and design look like the logo for the TV hit "American Idol." No surprise - the camp is run by a division of the company that produces "American Idol" and is based on the show. Except this isn't L.A. It's a shuttered prep school with well-manicured lawns and stately 19th-century buildings. "American Idol camp - that's something," said camper Natalie Kais, 12, of Fairfield, her eyes shining. The camp, for 12- to 15-year-olds, just finished its inaugural year. Campers there love "American Idol" and dream of moving from the camp's makeshift wooden platforms to the shiny "Idol" stage. Idol Camp treads a tightrope, making a summer performing arts camp feel like a way to connect to the "American Idol" TV show experience. One overcast morning early in the second 10-day session, the whole camp belted out "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and then trooped off to singing, dancing and acting classes. They walked in cliques with new friends, varying their paths to better their odds of running into guest teacher Vonzell Solomon, the third-place finisher in Season 4 of "American Idol." They gossip about how she gave an exclusive Idol Camp performance. They discuss how their lives will be when they're as famous as she is. Alyssa Rowe, 13, of South Carolina said that when she is a famous singer, she will use her earnings to help cure cancer and save Ethiopian children. "It's the chance of a lifetime for me," said Rowe, wearing a shirt that read: "Yes, I have an attitude. So what?" Fifteen-year-old Prospect resident Brandon Hayse also hopes Idol Camp will prepare him to realize his ambitions. "If I can, I'll go on `American Idol' and maybe get a singing career," Hayse said. "But if not, I want to be a doctor." Dyasiah Harrel, 14, of New Jersey said, "Say you want to go on `American Idol' when you're 16. When you're 15, [Idol Camp] prepares you so much." The camp's website (www.idolcamp.com) states clearly that attending Idol Camp lends no advantage in future "American Idol" auditions. But a connection to the show helps the camp, said director Donna Milani Luther. "Certainly the benefit is the `Idol' name," Luther said. She has more than three decades' experience in performing arts and is head of the Inly School, a Montessori school in Scituate, Mass. "We were able to get folks in here to share and work with the kids that probably wouldn't normally go to a summer camp, and that's a huge benefit to our campers," she said. Last week, Broadway actress Jodie Langel visited for the day to give three master classes on audition techniques. Langel said she asked to teach at the camp. "American Idol's such a big phenomenon now, and the fact that they had a camp specifically for teaching young artists I found intriguing," she said. Langel instructed campers to take turns lining up outside the room and then enter one by one, pretending to be entering an audition. She suggested changes campers could make to exude more confidence, like unclenching their fists and speaking clearly. Langel's bubbly personality kept the class tone lighthearted - "Apparently, I need a boy barrette," one camper deadpanned after attending - but the fun had a serious undertone. "This business is about being judged," Langel told her riveted pupils. Few performers know that sentiment better than past "American Idol" contestants, seven of whom visited the camp, helping teach the two sessions. Campers were also taught by a group of experts Luther pulled in, professionals she relies on for many of her projects. They lived with the campers during the 10-day sessions. Some even brought their own children. A quick glance at the campers' cafeteria tables formed a sea of "American Idol" blue. All staff and campers were required to wear laminated ID tags around their necks. Many campers also chose to wear Idol Camp T-shirts and caps. After six seasons, "American Idol" remains the most-watched show on TV. More than 74 million votes were cast to decide the latest victor, Jordin Sparks. It wasn't quite as hard to get into Idol Camp, although officials declined to release the number of applications sent in to avoid intimidating future applicants. This year, each session had 150 campers who paid $2,900 per session. The application costs $35 and includes an essay, not an audition tape. "I didn't want the most talented kids," Luther said. "What I wanted to identify was kids that were the most passionate about being in the arts." She got some of each. One camper's rendition of Alicia Keys' "Fallin" during Langel's class wowed everyone in earshot. Others, while not lacking passion, should not have been wielding microphones. Campers' varying abilities were not singled out, since the curriculum eschews competition. "I think kids from 12 to 15 years old should be opening doors, not having doors shut in their faces," Luther said. Like the show, the camp builds up to a finale, in this case a concert for parents on the penultimate day. All 150 campers sang together. Then kids wrote letters to themselves about what they learned and how it will help them in the future. The camp will mail them home to the campers in six months, as a reminder. Before the letters arrive, campers will have plenty of memories to share with friends. "When Vonzell came, everyone was screaming and jumping out of their chairs," said Miles Keeney, 13, of Greenwich. "But we ate lunch with her yesterday like a real person." |
