Portland Student Travels To Hollywood For American Idol

Posted Jan. 27, 2014 @ 4:33 pm 

By Mattie Cook - Ionia Sentinel-Standard
Portland, Mich.

As a first-grader, Shelby Miller's voice and singing style were noticed for the first time. Nearly a decade later, these same skills have helped pave her road to Hollywood through American Idol auditions. "Shelby started school at SS. Peter and Paul in Ionia, and Mary Cusack said to us that she sang well. We had noticed it too, so we asked if Mary thought maybe we should get her some voice lessons, but she said to let it develop naturally and that's what we did," Tina Miller, Shelby's mother, said.

Over the years, Shelby has been asked to sing at family get-togethers and community events, and she is also involved in the St. Patrick choir. Now in her junior year at St. Patrick Catholic School in Portland, Shelby has had the opportunity to showcase her talents to the entire nation through the American Idol competition.
 

"Shelby gets asked to sing at all of our family events. She's a little shy, but she always gets up and does it," Tina Miller said.
 

In sixth grade, Shelby began singing publicly and debuted her skills with the national anthem.
 

With a change in the regulations on age limits for the American Idol auditions, Shelby became eligible to participate in the first round of auditions for the national singing competition.
 

"When I first started out, I was thinking that I would never make it, but I was just happy to have had the experience. But as I kept getting further in the auditions process, I really started to realize how blessed I am for this experience," Shelby Miller said.
 

Although there were auditions taking place in Detroit, Shelby auditioned in Atlanta, Ga., since her family spent the summer in Florida with her grandparents. "I said that if she got all of the information together, I would drive her to Atlanta for the audition. We got there at one in the morning to stand in line," said Tina Miller.

With more than 10,000 individuals auditioning, Shelby's talent for singing shone through and she advanced to the second round of judging. "It was such a neat experience. There are two auditions with executive producers before you get to the celebrity round. Shelby kept saying, 'Even if it stops here, I'll be fine, because it was such a neat experience,'" Tina Miller said.

After advancing to the second round of competition, the family traveled back to Atlanta to complete the second round, and again for all rounds of audition before Shelby received her ticket to Hollywood. "Every four weeks we were heading back down to Atlanta. She got good responses from each round," said Tina Miller.

Before auditioning for American Idol, Shelby participated in Foreign Language Day at Central Michigan University. At the event, Shelby sang a Spanish tune. "When she sings in Spanish, she sounds like a completely different person. I suggested to her that she try the Spanish song first in the audition so she could set herself apart. I felt that it was a little risky, so I told her that if they stop her on that song, to start singing something else right away," Tina Miller said. During the audition, Shelby began singing the song and was then stopped by a judge, who asked her to sing something more contemporary. Shelby began to sing "Jesus Take the Wheel" by Carrie Underwood.
 

"Our family always asks Shelby to sing Carrie Underwood. Like Shelby, Carrie Underwood is very faith-based, and Shelby wants to stay true to her faith and be a good role model," Tina Miller said.
 

After Shelby sang, the judges said that she reminded them of Carrie Underwood's journey on American Idol and suggested that she calm her nerves in the future, according to Tina Miller.

During this round, there were four people and only one would advance.
 

"When they called the other three forward, Shelby said she thought that she was the one who didn't make it because they were all so good, but when they said her name, she was so excited," Tina Miller said.
 

Just 10 minutes before her next audition, Shelby was asked by members of the American Idol crew to change her song due to copyright issues. Contestants are asked to select and prepare three songs for the American Idol judges, so Shelby had planned to sing Carrie Underwood pieces for the first and third songs, and a Taylor Swift song second.
 

"She started freaking out because she didn't want to sing two Carrie Underwood songs for the judges. So when they came around and asked which two songs she was going to sing, she decided to put down the Carrie Underwood ones and then went in to the judges," said Tina Miller.
 

During the celebrity audition, Shelby began with "Wasted" by Carrie Underwood. After she had finished singing the song, Keith Urban, a celebrity judge, said he could listen to her sing all day, according to Tina Miller. Urban asked Shelby to sing a song that she had not practiced, so after some deliberation, Shelby decided to sing a Spanish song. "The judges were shocked because they had a song list and that wasn't on there. By the end of the song, Jennifer Lopez was singing right along with her. All three judges said 'yes' and Jennifer Lopez even asked if they could give her a Hollywood ticket on the spot," Tina Miller said.
 

During the trip, Shelby had the opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of what happens to American Idol contestants. "Overall, it was such a great experience to be able to see what happens and perform on stage. It was a blessing just to be able to go, so I feel like everything after the first audition has just been a bonus," said Shelby Miller. Working with vocal coaches, meeting the celebrity judges and learning from others in the auditions process helped Shelby throughout the process.

"One of the things I didn't expect was how much work goes into it. We were up all night. The first night we got three hours of sleep and the second night I think we only got about four hours of sleep. There were times when we'd sit for 10 hours listening to other people prepare and try to prepare ourselves. I think the only way to really prepare is when you get up there and actually start singing," Shelby Miller said.
 

Now that Shelby is home from her trip to meet the American Idol celebrity judges in Hollywood, she is waiting for the "Road to Hollywood" portion of the series to come on air. American Idol auditions will be featured Wednesday and Thursday, and the "Hollywood or Home" episode will air at 5 p.m. Feb. 5. Week one of the Hollywood Round will be on FOX stations at 8 p.m. Feb. 6.

Shelby's younger sister, Chelsea, was able to attend each round of the audition process, and has provided support and inspiration to Shelby throughout the journey. At school, Shelby's photos and notice of her achievement have been posted throughout the building. "Younger kids will come up to Shelby and ask if they can get their picture taken with her. It's such a new thing for her, and for me, to see," Tina Miller said.
 

For Shelby, the American Idol experience has been a "blessing" and has offered her more experience and insights into the industry than she expected. "It's such a great experience to start out watching American Idol and then auditioning. Being from a small town, I didn't know how to prepare, but as I got farther and farther into the auditions, I realized that it was a blessing to be in the company of people on the show and be able to learn from them," said Shelby Miller.
 

Although Shelby feels blessed to have been able to showcase her talents through American Idol, she also wants to have other career options just in case. "I want to go to law school, so I'm in the process of looking into that. My faith is something I can really depend on. I want to get a good education and have a back-up plan, but for now, I'm happy with this experience and am excited to see where it goes," Shelby Miller said.