Lufkin native Kendall Beard reaches top 36 on Idol
March 25, 2009
Filed under News
Lufkin native Kendall Beard performed on the eighth season of American Idol and reached the top 36. For her on-air performance, she sang Martina McBrides’s “This One’s For the Girls.” And while the judges’s comments were encouraging, she was not able to continue further.
“I am not disappointed that I did not make it to the top 13,” Beard said. “I did my best and I am just thankful that I made it as far as I did because I experienced something few other people do.”
Kendall auditioned for the show in Puerto Rico a year ago because of available auditions.
“By the time I looked on the web site for auditions, half of them were over and the ones that were left were not in Texas,” Beard said. “Basically, I had to catch a flight anywhere I went and flight prices were about the same everywhere, so I decided on Puerto Rico.”
However, Beard said she did have a reason for choosing Puerto Rico.
“I knew a lot of great people who have never made it, so I was not taking it seriously,” Beard said. “My mind set was that if I got cut, I could go lay on the beach.”
According to the 24-year-old, she thinks going to Puerto Rico played in her favor.
“You have to be different and unique to stand out; that is one of the challenges,” Beard said. “I think the fact I auditioned in Puerto Rico but was from Texas helped me achieve that.”
Following her auditions, she had to go to Hollywood Week in Los Angeles.
“It was the longest and shortest week of my life,” Beard said. “I was constantly under pressure and it was hard but it made my skin thicker.”
After Hollywood Week, Beard and other contestants watched their performances on television, knowing they had made it to the top 36.
“We all knew that we had made it to the top 36, but everyone in America had yet to find out,” Beard said. “It was a really emotional seeing us all experience something we had been waiting for.”
Then came her on-air performance, and Beard said she did not think the judges’s comments were bad.
“I have heard better and worse,” Beard said. “ I was just happy that they acknowledged I had stayed true to myself.”
When choosing her song choice, Beard said she wanted something that represented not only who she was as an artist, but her personality.
“I knew that when choosing my song, I only had once chance to show who I am all-around,” Beard said. “I wanted something to show I am young, fun, vibrant and bubbly.”
However, “This One’s For the Girls” was not the only song Beard considered singing.
“All the songs we wanted to sing had to be cleared by the artists, so some songs I had thought about singing I was not able to,” Beard said. “Other songs like “Bring on the Rain” and “Lips of an Angel” I decided were too slow and would not be as exciting.”
After her performance, Beard decided not to check the blogs to see what Americans thought of her performance.
“I did not want to get on because people have both good and bad things to say and I did not want to get a negative vibe,” Beard said. “I know a lot of contestants who got on to see what the blogs were saying about them, but I knew if anything good was said, people would send me a link.”
From American Idol, Beard said she has learned crucial lessons to help her continue her career as a performer.
“This experience has taught me so much about the music business from how things work to how people think,” Beard said. “I think now I am also a stronger and better person because the intense pressure situations I have been put under have made my skin thicker.” Beard said she is now exploring options she never considered before.
“This has opened a lot of doors for me,” she said. “Different people have been contacting me and now I am considering going to Nashville or L.A.”
Wherever she goes, Beard said she is going to continue writing songs and singing.
“I have been writing songs and singing since I was a kid and will continue to do so wherever I go,” Beard said. “Not saying that I have recorded every song that I have written, some were just for me, but I am definitely wanting to continue recording.”
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