| Sources |
- [S84] E-Mail, Leah Parton [lparton2@utk.edu], 24 Oct 2008.
- [S51] The Seymour Herald, (www.smokymountainherald.com), 16 Mar 2009.
shs teen takes 'idol' leap
Murrella Parton has earned herself a special ticket to the biggest singing audition in the country.
A senior at Seymour High School and a member of the Seymour High School Concert Choir, which was honored earlier this month at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.
Oh, and by the way, Murrella, who is 18 and a senior at SHS, also is holding a Disney Fast Pass for this summer’s “American Idol” auditions that allows her to skip the long and tedious lines and audition directly with the producers of “Idol.”
Murrella said she will likely audition in Atlanta or Kentucky.
Jean Burkhart, who teaches chorus at SHS, thinks Murrella has a pretty good chance of making it to the television show, now in its 8th season, which is watched by millions.
“Murrella has the ‘chops’ to make it,” Burkhart said. “If she didn’t she would not have won the Grace Moore Vocal Scholarship in music, which is awarded to only one student per year, at UT.”
She will be studying opera, Burkhart said, though she sang country at the “Idol” contest in Florida on March 6.
“The big thing is that if Murrella were an ordinary contestant without the Fast Pass, she would have to stand in line 15 hours or more and even then she would have to survive a tough elimination process.”
Murrella said while attending the Disney Honors event at the Florida theme park, she decided to check out the new attraction, “The American Idol Experience,” which works pretty much like the hit TV show, except that contestants perform before audiences at the park.
“I entered on a fluke,” she said. “After the second audition, I realized this wasn’t a game anymore.”
Hundreds auditioned that day. Twenty-one made it to the semifinals and only seven competed in the finals. Murrella won, singing “Independence Day” by Martina McBride. She was chosen by an audience of 1,000 viewers in the Disney theater.
If she is chosen to compete on “Idol,” Murrella will have to try to work something out with UT to allow her to participate without surrendering her full-run music scholarship. The television show will not begin taping until she is in her second semester at the university and she’s hoping she’ll be allowed to take the semester off to compete.
“I’m a little worried about it,” she said. “I hope we can work something out.”
Burkhart thinks UT will work with the student, as it would also be good publicity for the school.
Murrella is an A student, in the top 10 percent of her class. She is a member of the Governor’s School for Music and the Tennessee All East and All State Choir. She has the lead in this year’s student production of “Oklahoma.”
“Murrella has the ability to connect with the audience,” Burkhart said. “She obviously has the chops for it. She was picked by 1,000 strangers in Florida. Her chances are great.”
In an interview this week, the student said she did not find her Florida experience frightening, but rather more like exciting.
“I always get nervous before I go on stage and I get nervous afterward,” she said “But while I’m on stage, I’m home,” she said, a big, beaming smile spreading across her face.
If she gets to audition for “Idol” judges Simon, Paula, Ciara and Randy, Murrella said, “I’m going to be who I am, just a girl from Tennessee. I’m not going to change that. I’m going to be who I am and see where it takes me.”
The singing teen, who loves both country and opera music, has already achieved some fame.
“At Disney after the auditions, people were coming up to me and asking me for autographs and to have their picture taken with me. “
Her success was announced at church and “my phone has been ringing off the hook,” she said, laughing.
Murrella’s family is “100 percent” behind her. Her mom Michele is a hair stylist and her dad Terry works for the City of Sevierville. She has a sister, Leah, who is 14 months older and a freshman at UT.
Murrella realizes that she has big decisions to make in her future. So she has turned to God for guidance.
“I’ve been praying about it for some time and I’m really confident God will lead me in the right direction,” she said.
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Abt 1991 - (~ 33 years)