By CHRIS HARRIS, Staff Writer
Somerset — It’s one thing to actually sign-up for a prestigious talent contest and hope the judges like you enough to let you go through. It’s quite another to have the talent contest come after you.
But that’s exactly the situation young Jordan Foster, a sixth-grader at Northern Middle School, found himself in earlier this year
Foster received an opportunity to audition for the popular reality TV program, “America’s Got Talent.” Hosted by comedian Nick Cannon, and featuring celebrity judges Piers Morgan, Sharon Osbourne and Howie Mandel (original judge David Hasselhoff is no longer with the show), the NBC hit will begin its fifth season on June 1 at 8 p.m.
“He’s just exemplary,” said June Correll, who has Foster in her choir class in the country school system junior high school. “He’s a latecomer to choir this year, having only been in it one semester; I had no idea he was in the school before that. With his sight reading ability (performing without prior practice of a piece), he’s one of the best in the class.”
It’s been a fast rise up the musical ladder for certain, but Foster isn’t done moving up yet. Foster doesn’t know yet whether or not he’ll be a part of “America‘s Got Talent,” but there’s definitely a chance. He’s awaiting a call that is expected to come in April which will let him know whether or not he’ll be moving on to the next stage of the competition.
If Foster were to go all the way, he wouldn’t be the first Kentuckian to do so. Country music crooner Kevin Skinner, a native of Mayfield, Ky., won the big prize last year, including a million dollars and a Las Vegas show of his own. Such fame and glory could come to Foster if he were to win America’s hearts … but it sounds like the 12-year-old already has a jump on that popularity contest.
Foster has posted videos of himself singing and playing the guitar on YouTube, the popular Web site where users can upload self-produced video clips featuring nearly anything they want.
It was through this channel that “America’s Got Talent” discovered the musical diamond in the rough. Foster said he was hanging out with a friend when he received a phone call from a representative of the show, stating that they had seen Foster online and were interested in what he could bring to the televised table.
“He was like, ‘My Name’s Chris from ‘America’s Got Talent’ and we would like you to try out for us in Atlanta,” said Foster. “It was crazy. Then I called my mom, and she said, ‘You’re lying.’ And I’m like, ‘No, I swear.’”
The show’s Atlanta auditions were held on Feb. 20-21 in the downtown Americasmart, a commercial complex and convention center. For Foster, who traveled south with his family, the novelty wasn’t just in the reason for the trip, but in the experience itself.
“I was supposed to be up at 4 a.m., but we just walked out of the hotel and walked around the city,” said Foster, who admitted that the cultural mecca that is Atlanta was inspirational as a musical artist. “That was the first big city I’d ever been in. It was one of the first times I’d ever been out of Kentucky.”
The trip to get there was long, and the journey to get in the audition room ever longer. Foster described a day crammed full of waiting, “hours and hours” by the youth’s estimation, as he and his family stood in lines, cleared security checkpoints, stood in more lines, divided into different groups based on specific talents, and, oh yes, stood in still more lines. Foster could be forgiven for beginning to think that his moment to shine would never arrive.
“They got everyone who was singing, dancing, playing, anything to do with music into their own lines,” said Foster, the exasperation in his voice suggesting his feelings at the time. “Huge, big lines.”
Along the way, Foster got a taste of the behind-the-scenes workings of reality TV, where not everything is as it seems when you view the finished product.
“They brought over all these big cameras, and a guy with a blowhorn gets up and says that he wants everyone to scream on the count of three, ‘America, we’ve got talent!’” recalled Foster. We did that a few times, then we screamed, ‘Welcome to Atlanta,’ then we did a few other cities, which I thought there was no point in. We were in Atlanta; why would we say ‘Welcome to Chicago’?”
Geographical confusion aside, the long and patience-testing trek was suddenly all worth it when Foster got his turn in front of the judges. No, not the judges the audience sees on TV, but another set of producer-types entrusted with the task of assembling a cast that will keep viewers glued to their seats. Based on his review, it would seem Foster made quite an impression with his interpretation of the Justin Bieber hit, “Favorite Girl.”
“Finally, I went up, and just told them my name, my age, where I’m from, and what I’m doing,” said Foster. “I had the cameras on me, and I just played and sang. One of the people said I was her favorite of the day.”
Certainly, Foster feels confident about his chances — “I feel like that was one of the best times I’ve ever had doing that song,” he said — but he was told those evaluating the talent at this stage would have to review their tapes and get back to him in April.
Justin Bieber, a 16-year-old fresh-faced Canadian pop star, has done a lot of good for Foster, who considers Bieber “an idol.” Foster’s YouTube clips feature numerous covers of the teen sensation’s songs, and he even credits seeing Bieber on TV with inspiring him to put down the basketball and pick up an instrument.
“I took guitar lessons from age 3 to age 6, but then I decided I wanted to play basketball,” said Foster. “So one day, I saw Justin Bieber on there playing, so I decided to get my guitar out from under my bed and started looking up stuff and learning how to play.”
After a combination of self-teaching and professional lessons, Foster feels he’s right on track in terms of his string-music development.
“I would say I’m not advanced yet, but I can do any chord, (and) I can read tabs,” he said. “I’ve got pretty much everything down except for knowing the whole fretboard and being able to play lead out of nowhere. I think I’m pretty good.”
He’s also branching out into other instruments and styles. Foster said he can also play the drums and bass, and is working on his knowledge of the piano. And while Bieber-style pop is his thing, Foster said he recently began playing with a band that has more of a harder rock edge to its sound.
Of course, playing the guitar is one thing — dealing with celebrity in any form is quite another. Foster suggests that his online performances have already gained him quite a following (“People all over the country have told me I need to keep it up,” he noted), and said that he’s constantly being asked for autographs.
“I went to get my hair cut at a place I’d never been before, and they asked me to sing a song; one person gave me five dollars for an autograph,” said Foster. “This one girl came into school one day with this tie-dyed t-shirt she had made that said, “Jordan Foster Rocks.’”
And how did that feel? “Pretty amazing,” said Foster with a nervous chuckle, seemingly still surprised at the gesture. “I was kind of like, ‘Wow.’”
If anyone is sure Foster can handle the spotlight, it’s Correll, who credits Foster’s maturity and ability to adapt with both his current success and the likelihood that he will achieve his goal of becoming a pop star like Bieber one day.
“He’s just precocious, far beyond his years,” she said. “He’s not childlike, even though he is a child. He doesn’t sing like one.”
Foster will be performing Monday at 6 p.m. in the choir room at Northern Middle School, staging an “Evening with the Arts” as it’s being called to showcase the song he played for his TV audition.
With any luck, those who attend will get their first glimpse at someone they may be seeing on their TV screens all summer long. Whether or not he gets an early taste of Hollywood, however, Foster knows very well what his passion is in life, even at such a young age.
“Music is life to me,” he said. “I quit sports for music. I was a sports fanatic, and then I put it all down, just for music. It’s everything to me. I don’t think I could ever quit singing or playing.”
