12.15.2006
CRAZY, WONDERFUL KATELYN TARVER
NEVER MIND THE BRITNEY COMPARISONS226128"THIS YOUNG AMERICAN IDOL JUNIORS SURVIVOR IS OUT TO MAKE A NAME FOR HERSELF
Britney comparisons can only go so far, because it doesn’t look as if Katelyn’s following in her footsteps. She performed solo during her mall performances here, but “back home” she usually performs with a band. Also none of her dancing is choreographed. At the presscon organized for her by her Philippine distributor, Universal Records, several journalists attempted to grill her about this image of hers, what her image was exactly, what her influences were, did she know how to play a musical instrument, etc. Katelyn gamely answered, saying that her dad is teaching her to play the guitar but “You know, it’s kind of hard, learning from your dad. So…”; that she listened to different kinds of music and isn’t influenced by any one particular artist, “I just sing how I sing,” she summed it up; and instead of explaining what her image is supposed to be, she responds that “my music is always positive and I always try to give a positive message. And my songs are just fun pop songs that are fun to listen to with your friends.” She chuckles softly and says, “I think that was what I was trying to go for.”
It’s far too early for her to figure out what she is in terms of music and image, in any case. As of the moment, Katelyn is promoting her first album and single, both titled “Wonderful/Crazy,” also incidentally one of her favorite songs from the album—“Just because you know it talks about how your life is wonderful but crazy and exciting all at the same time. So, I can kinda relate to that right now.” This small-town girl from Georgia isn’t entirely new to the music business, however, being one of the three finalists on American Idol Juniors, a kid version of the highly popular singing contest.
“I always sang when I was little, of course, with a hairbrush and the mirror,” she relates. “But I never really thought of it as a career until I was on American Juniors, because I’m from this small town, and that’s not what you do when you’re from a small town, go after a singing career. So, when I was on the show, and got out of Glenville, which is the town that I’m from, and just performed each week, I really fell in love with it, so that’s when I was thirteen. Really thought about pursuing it seriously at 13.”
She was thirteen years old at the time of American Idol Juniors, but sang songs like Donna Summer’s “On the Radio” and the Carpenters’ “We’ve Only Just Begun,” songs she had never heard before they were given to her to sing on the show. “They gave me a CD and they’re like, ‘This is the song you’re singing this week.’ So, I didn’t really have a choice of what I sang, but fortunately enough, I really loved “On The Radio,” that was a fun one to perform and the Karen Carpenter song, it’s a pretty song too.” It was also on the show where she had an idea of what her strengths were as a singer, which is why she isn’t currently stressing over what image she ought to project. “At the beginning, I sang ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ and that is the song that, you know, got me into the Top 10 as a finalist. Then, after that, they kept giving me slower-tempoed songs and I couldn’t really perform them, and I love performing, it’s what I love to do. And finally, they gave me an upbeat song, or we convinced them to give me an upbeat song, called ‘Tell Him.’ And that was when I got to perform and show my personality a little bit more and that’s when the judges were like, ‘Oh, okay. Here we go!’”
Just because you were on AI Juniors doesn’t necessarily mean you make it to the big time. Katelyn has the option of trying her luck on American Idol also, but that means that she’ll have to line up and audition like everyone else. She’s not too keen on it, though. “I already did the younger one and so… I don’t know if I wanna do the older one. It looks like fun but I wanna see if I can make it without American Idol, but you never know.”
Photos from Katelyn Tarver Online.
Katelyn Tarver’s “Wonderful/Crazy” was recently charting on local radio. You might have been dancing along to it on one of your late afternoon commutes. Check out more of Katelyn Tarver here.
