Emma Galvan Sings Her Way into the Finals In The One, Jr.

Life is short they will tell you and on many death beds the most regrets are things not done. Opportunities will present themselves in your life, and the difference between a life celebrated is grabbing those opportunities with gusto. This is just what Emma Galvan did this summer.

Emma Galvan is your average high school 15 year old. She will be entering Oak Lawn high school this year as a sophomore and will be a member of the marching band, the speech team and drama group. She has always been involved with music, doing plays for many years, playing the piano, and teaching herself the drums.

Last year she took a chance and tried out for the fall play and was awarded a part. She loved it so when she become aware of a local singing contest, she went for it.

She figured, what was the worst that could happen. The ONE Jr. is a singing competition which was hosted and held at Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park. It is similar to American Idol with contestants begin eliminated every week for 10 weeks.

It started with a private audition where 23 kids were chosen to compete. Emma was delighted to be one of them. Since “The ONE Jr.” is considered the whole package, each weekly theme challenges contestants in different ways. Each week, through votes, contestants either were eliminated or advanced to the next week.

For 8 weeks Emma sang, performed and thrilled the audience, being one of the signers to advance. I caught up with her, the 9th week when the pressure was on, but Emma was a cool and confident contender. It was down to 7 singers with some stiff competition. All the young adults were great singers and extraordinary performers to boot.

She confessed to be nervous before going on stage but she was well prepared with her two songs practiced for the big night including Everybody Talks and Alphabet Aerobics which turned out to be a real crowd pleaser.

"Once I get up on stage, my butterflies go away, and I just sing," she stated when asked how she gets up in front of the audience every week. If seems Emma is here for the right reasons also. "I am here, not just to win, but for the entire experience. I figured what the heck do I have to lose."

Emma did not make the cut for the 10th and final week. She celebrated with her friends and family for making it so far in the competition and all the fun she had. She is glad for her experience and feels it has made her a stronger performer which will come in handy this year when fall play rolls around.

That is a life lesson we all need to remember. The journey many times, is better than the destination. So are you ready for the opportunity, because there will be a singing contest starting right here in Oak Forest at Lutheran Church of the Resurrection. Below is the information and here is the sign up sheet. The next one could be you!