Gecko Factor  – 2023

Gecko Factor is an X-Factor for students to perform their musical and vocal talent which is precisely what I wanted to do so I signed up with some of my friends. The audience was confused since Mr. Kim the music teacher gave me a list of possible songs that would suit my vocal range and overall voice. He suggested singing a popular song by SZA called Kill Bill as he thinks her voice suited mine. When leaving the audition I thought about singing the song but I was a bit unsure of myself being able to perform it then I stumbled upon this song by an artist called Beabadoobee and Laufey who sang this song called A Night To Remember a beautiful song that I fell in love with so I decided to give it a go.  My part-time time was limited to just the daily showers I took, I would sing the song and blast it as I was washing my hair and my sister would get annoyed as she would hear the music from her bathroom as well. It was difficult getting input on how well I was singing since I’ve never had any musical experience or vocal lessons not counting the musicals I have been part of. So learning the song was solely based on previous experience and recording myself hoping I sounded the same as the singers did.

Practice

A week or so before the performance a lot of singers and participants dropped out of the competition due to school work which left me feeling kind of alone and nervous as I was the only DP1 student participating in it now and didn’t have any close friends to ask for feedback from. Luckily Naomi from grade 10 a friend whom I got close with due to WWW and Little Shop of Horrors was performing as well so I was less nervous, the day before the performance we did a sound check and a lighting check, and I chose an aquamarine and warm yellow lighting to compliment my song.

Performance  Day

The performance day came around and I was excited yet nervous to perform solo in front of an audience, it was not the first time I’ve had to sing a solo since I played Morticia for The Addams Family Play where I had solos but other actors where always on stage with me so I signed up for this to push my boundaries and try something new. As I was waiting my turn behind the stage I was getting more and more nervous luily Naomi who is a great singer and very experienced gave me some tips on how to stay calm and reassured me it would be alright. After my performance, I felt relieved and heard from Noami that I did very well but all I could care about at that moment was her singing as well since I enjoyed her song and voice. I cheered her on from the sidelines as she performed and we were super great. Then after the performances we got called onto stage and the winners were announced, I placed 3d!