hankfully, it was a rainy and humid January afternoon, an unusual break from the blistering cold, which made a long wait a little more bearable for Associate Professor of Communications Dr. Kirsten Johnson. Johnson waited for five hours at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Center City, Philadelphia, to audition for NBC’S popular singing television show, “The Voice.”
The Elizabethtown College communications professor said she is “fascinated and intrigued with reality TV shows” and decided to go behind the scenes by auditioning. Johnson graduated with a B.A. in Broadcast News from Drake University, an M.S. in Telecommunications from Kutztown University and a Ph.D. in Information Science and Technology from Drexel University.
Johnson’s accomplishments at these various universities led her to become not only the professor she is today, but also an enthusiast for music. It only makes sense to say that music is in her blood; her father graduated from Juilliard School of Performing Arts and was an opera singer, her mother was a professional pianist and two of her siblings went to college for music.
Johnson started singing in middle school, continuing throughout high school and college. She participated in many different vocal ensembles and also was a part of a Christian-based band called “House of Refuge.” The band and Johnson played at many community events. Today, she is in a praise and worship band at the Ephrata Church of the Brethren.
Her years of experience allowed her to confidently audition for “The Voice.” She was used to getting up in front of crowds. “I had no problem with singing in front of people, so before the audition I wasn’t nervous at all. My feet just hurt,” Johnson answered when asked how she felt before the audition. However, the numbing five-hour wait before her audition was filled with conversation with a variety of eager singers. “No cellphones were allowed out, so it was nice to talk to people without technology,” she said.
Johnson found it surprising how friendly everyone was and how many helpful tips she received. Out of 30,000 people, everyone that Johnson met was familiar with the audition process. A lot of them travel around the country going from one audition to the next in order to “chase their dreams and find their ticket to stardom”, she said.
Johnson’s desire to audition for this show was different; she did it to see what the show was all about behind what people see on television. Johnson loves being a professor and couldn’t see that ever changing. “Trading my life as a professor for being a pop-star isn’t appealing to me,” Johnson said to differentiate herself from the others auditioning. She simply auditioned because she could. “I can get to Philadelphia and back in one day … why not?”
That is exactly what Johnson did. After signing up online and receiving her audition’s time slot, she arrived in Center City at 2 p.m. Five hours and a couple of granola bars later, Johnson made it to the stage with nine other contestants. Each contestant was called up into a single-file line where they sang separately for 30 seconds. Johnson sang “Go Tell it on the Mountain,” a widely-known Christian song.
Johnson’s goal to get a peek of what reality TV was all about was accomplished. She enjoyed hearing all of the contestants’ stories and meeting a subculture of people who travel around, auditioning and trying to become famous. After all, this show isn’t ironically just about “the voice; it’s about their story,” she said.
After a sad goodbye to the people she bonded with before her audition, Johnson left Philadelphia with another thing crossed off her bucket list. “Don’t be intimidated; it was a great experience. Cross it off your own bucket list,” she said.
