Last night was the Arts & Music Show, a talent show produced by the grade school students at the American International School and Aliyah is a part of it with group and a solo performance. The auditorium was packed, people from different nationalities, parents, teachers, friends and students filled the seats. We entered, Aliyah was a bit nervous after seeing the crowd, I guess that's a normal thing because even myself would have butterflies in my stomach performing on stage in front of those people. Showtime! At the second half of the show, the emcee, (who's also their Arts & Music teacher) announced a 'special' treat for the audience, and said that it's a rare moment that they'd be having a solo performance from a very talented young girl from grade 4 and she calls Aliyah onstage and the applause! Aliyah gave a small introduction about herself and the song she'll be singing, "Tomorrow" from the musical Annie, with a huge Annie poster projected on the background wall. Music starts, a karaoke version of the original, after the first verse, the unexpected happened, the cd starts skipping! Aliyah stops singing and stands right there with a smile looking straight at the control booth, the music stops, the emcee jumps in the scene, the crowd reaction was mixed, and we waited, after 20 seconds of no music, the emcee went to her and asked her if she wants to do it in a cappella, and she says yes! The crowd applause was crazy, i heard some whistling, yelling "yeah!" in the audience. And she takes off.. but just when she's about to sing, the music plays again, (damn! I'm really hating the guy in the control room), Aliyah for a split second looked at me, and I gave her a nod to "go on", and she did, with a sweet smile and a bit of action on her singing, I knew it wasn't there when we practised it at home, I told her that when things go wrong and you're on stage, smile and never look scared-be confident, remember that you are singing their song, and you have to give your best doing it! And she did! after the last verse and the ending, the auditorium was filled with applause, Aliyah got a 'Standing Ovation! A wonderful performance, and a real great experience for Aliyah, You made us proud again, love! - You're my Superstar!
