Karaoke Singer to Compete for National Title

As an unknown, getting noticed by the record industry is a task that takes talent, determination and no small amount of ingenuity.

Newbury Park resident Janet Cartwright, 26, hopes that competing in the national finals of the Coast to Coast Karaoke Challenge 1996 this weekend in Orlando will give her enough exposure to reel in a fat record deal.

“She has a voice that’s a cross between Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston,” said her mother, Lucy Cartwright. “She’s got the stage presence and she’s got the heart, and I think that comes across in her singing.”

Janet Cartwright is among 50 finalists competing in the sing-off, which will be held in the American Gladiators Arena at Universal Studios in Orlando. She was selected from among 3 million contestants nationwide, and will represent the Southern California region from Santa Barbara south to the U.S. border.

“I think I have a real good chance,” she said. “It’s going to be a total workout in Orlando, though. I won’t have time to do anything fun.”

Cartwright is no raw amateur when it comes to singing--she has been doing it since age 13. And her voice and talent have taken her as far as opening for Pam Tillis at the Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara, which she did in May.

She also sang lead for the now-defunct K-HAY Country FM 101 band, landing the job shortly after arriving in California almost two years ago.

“I started singing karaoke just for fun when I was in between bands,” she said, adding that she didn’t have to go far to find a karaoke machine, an electronic gizmo that flashes the words to songs on a video screen allowing people to sing along with the music.

“Me and some friends started going to a place around the corner from my house,” she said. “They told me there was this big contest and I won, but I didn’t realize how big it was.”

Her repertoire of songs includes numbers by Barbra Streisand, Anita Baker and even tunes by Linda Ronstadt and Gloria Estefan, which she sings in Spanish.

Cartwright said she is confident that the sing-off, which will be televised in September, will be the break she needs to embark on a career as a recording artist.

“I have the voice--that’s what I know I have,” Cartwright said. “I just need someone to guide me.”