Eyes on the ‘Idols’

Kaiser Elementary School event will pit 12 student contestants against one another for the chance to be named ‘Kaiser Idol.’ It isn’t really about fortune and fame, though. It’s about fun, community and charisma. Sixth grader Jordan Pickard on Wednesday auditions for a spot in “Kaiser Idol.” Debra Muniz knows her music well. The sixth-grade teacher at Kaiser Elementary School is a professionally trained vocalist, and her ear naturally picks up melody and harmony -- especially among students who are struggling with both.

When listening to young performers, however, she asks for one thing above all, an eight-letter word that doesn’t show up on sheet music.

Charisma.

In the Kaiser multipurpose room Wednesday, Muniz listened to nearly two dozen students who auditioned for the school’s second annual “Kaiser Idol” extravaganza. The singing and dancing revue, which raises funds for the spring school play and other functions, will feature 12 finalists competing for prizes.

Each of the children had brought a karaoke track on CD and stood on the stage one at a time with a microphone, singing numbers from Disney films, Broadway musicals, even Aretha Franklin. Some of the performers stayed on pitch better than others, but Muniz said little about technical perfection.

Instead, her comments largely centered around one idea.

“If 300 people are looking at you, could you add a little more charisma?” Muniz asked the first performer, who had just finished a song from “The Little Mermaid.”

When the next contestant left the stage, Muniz repeated almost the same comment.

Later, she stopped a girl in the middle of “Over the Rainbow” and gave her a rough example of charisma: waving a hand slowly to indicate the shape of a rainbow, as opposed to keeping still for the entire song.

So, what is charisma? The answer might be similar to Louis Armstrong’s famous definition of jazz: “Man, if you have to ask what it is, you’ll never know.”

Still, some of Muniz’s young performers had a general idea.

“Express your feelings,” explained sixth-grader Becki Judge, 11.

“Just more movement, more attitude -- stuff like that,” added fifth-grader Hattie Marshall, 11. “Be more sassy.”

“It’s kind of choreography and enthusiasm,” reasoned Becki’s 10-year-old sister, Heidi Judge, who then offered examples: “Elvis had charisma. He’s all about the hip-shaking. And Kelly Clarkson -- I’ve seen a lot of her music videos. She’s out there having fun and singing.”

“Kaiser Idol,” which will be held Jan. 27 at the Costa Mesa Community Center, plays as a miniature version of Fox’s popular TV talent show. Four students in three grades -- fourth, fifth and sixth -- will compete to be the “idol” among their peers, with the winners receiving large trophies (the runners-up get smaller ones). Three teachers will portray the “American Idol” judges, even doing impressions.

The production itself is lavish, with a Polynesian theme, a catered dinner and $22 tickets -- which sold out at last year’s event. Muniz, who created “Kaiser Idol,” said the focus of the show is community rather than competition.

“Going through the process itself is kind of a learning experience for them [the students], but we’re not harsh like the ‘American Idol’ judges,” Muniz said. “It’s all in fun, and there’s a lot of praise and positive things that kids walk away with.”

Even still, there are only 12 slots in the show for singers, and some students prepared hard to make the final cut. Some Kaiser students have trained with vocal coaches for years, while others enlisted mentors specifically for the upcoming contest. Many said their practice would entail singing the same song over and over again for the rest of the month.

Becki, who auditioned with “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” from the Disney classic “Cinderella,” said she would recite the song “at least 20 times a day” over the next three weeks.

Shelby Slezak, 9, joined the Southern California Children’s Choir a year ago and once sang in front of 24,000 people at the Hollywood Bowl -- an experience that, she said, might have been less nerve-wracking than performing at the Costa Mesa Community Center.

“At the Hollywood Bowl, it’s nice because you can only see the first few rows,” said Shelby, a fourth-grader. “The rest is all dark.”

Classmate Katelynne Dangl enlisted a friend from her church, who attends the Orange County High School of the Arts, to help her rehearse “The Lion King”-based song “Queen of the Jungle” -- charisma and all.

Sixth-grader Jeni Drake has spent the last few months working with a drama coach and a vocal instructor.

“She’d love to win, but they’re all buddies,” said her mother, Melody Drake. “It’s not competitive at all. They practice with each other.”

The faculty members in charge of “Kaiser Idol” -- Muniz, Renée Poivre and Shelby’s mother, Liz Slezak -- held the first round of auditions in December, with only five students showing up. Wednesday, the school held a second tryout.

As vocalists took their turns at the microphone, Liz Slezak and Poivre sat at the judges’ table and jotted down comments: “good spunk,” “somewhat on pitch,” “needs to practice composure.”

At 3:31 p.m., Muniz taped the list of 12 finalists to the multipurpose room door, with students gathering around to look. As girls spotted their names, they screamed and embraced each other.

Becki, whose sister also made the list, described her mood as “jumpy.”

Whichever students win the competition later this month, one thing is certain: The idols in question will be goddesses, not gods. Of all the students who auditioned for “Kaiser Idol,” only one was a boy -- a third-grader who tried out in December and didn’t make it. Even the show’s dance group, which took all students that applied, consists entirely of girls.

“I’m going to try to get a couple of boys to walk across with surfboards” in the dance number, Poivre said.

Liz Slezak said she wasn’t surprised by the show’s girl power.

“I think the boys are embarrassed,” she said. “Three boys in my class are trying out for ‘Peter Pan’ [the Kaiser spring play], and that’s scary to me. They just don’t want to sing in front of their friends.”

The musical gender gap, Heidi believed, lay mostly on the surface.

“A lot of the boys are really shy,” she said. “I know a lot of them who have music in them, but they’re afraid to express it.”

By the end of the evening on Jan. 27, the judges will have chosen three Kaiser Idols -- and as with “American Idol,” it’s a title with some prestige. Apart from receiving trophies, the winners will get to perform at the annual used book sale at Kaiser in February.

Moreover, they’ll get to continue an annual tradition by being featured in the following year’s “Kaiser Idol” show. The competition rules state that the previous year’s winners cannot audition again, but the 2005 group will put on a special showcase at the Costa Mesa Community Center.

Sixth-grader Allison Sheppard, 11, won the contest last year and plans to perform “Defying Gravity” from the musical “Wicked” at the show. She offered a simple bit of advice for performers battling stage fright: Look past the audience and focus on a spot on the wall. Then, let the music do its trick.

“Once you start singing, you just lose yourself,” she said.20060115it1xkbncMARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT20060115it1xlfncMARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Debra Muniz, left, coaches fourth-grader Hayleigh Silva on Wednesday as she auditions for “Kaiser Idol.”