The School Talent Show

Kayla and I can be complete opposites in some ways.

Where she is outgoing and social, I am reserved and quiet.
Where she is self-confident, I am self-conscious.
Where she likes to be on stage and perform, I like to be in the back row, unnoticed.

So when her school's talent show was advertised I knew she would want to participate. I knew what song she would want to perform. I knew that she wouldn't care whether or not she could actually sing. I knew all she would care about was being up on that stage.

And I was right on all accounts: she did want to participate and she she did want to sing to "Let it Go." Yes, that song is still big at our house. Karaoke, CD, iPad, YouTube.

When Kayla sings Let It Go she doesn't just sing it, she acts out the whole scene from the movie when Elsa is singing: the hand movements as she's creating her ice castle, the removal of her gloves, her cape, the toss of her crown - Kayla mimics all of that and she's pretty on-cue with when to do those things during the specific parts of the song.

Right before the show the students rehearsed their act one time. During Kayla's rehearsal she used a hand-held mic and then afterwords I suggested she try the clip on mic since she uses both hands while singing the song (although she had no problem in rehearsal switching the mic back and forth I thought it might be easier if she didn't have to worry about the hand mic). She didn't get a chance to practice with the clip-on mic though before it was her turn.

So during her performance when she went to remove the cape she pulled on the string which tightened it up just enough that it didn't slip easily over her head - she's very routine-oriented and knew she was supposed to remove her cape, so in the video you can see her look at me with her palm up as if to say, "Now what am I supposed to do?" She eventually got it off and then it got tangled with her mic and that distraction threw her off. I should have left well enough alone and not said anything about switching mics!

She got back on track though and finished her routine (although I really wanted to ask if she could just start over!)

The audience gave her a standing ovation for getting through her little wardrobe malfunction!

I'm so in awe (and proud!) of her and her self-confidence to perform in front of others!

(At the very beginning she uses ASL to tell me to 'sit!')