Are You The Next Showstopper?!

Having difficulty trying to find funding for the arts in so many different ways, the first thing that gets cut from are the schools. So we have been going into the schools and bringing not just music into the schools, but financial literacy, mental wellness, mindfulness, so that our kids have access. We want to make sure that access to the arts is not just a privilege, but it is a requirement.

Seeing her story made me realize about our beauty, our brilliance, our dreams, and that we too can become stars. Each and every one of us can become stars. I want it to be that same light for the next generation of artists, of visionaries. Raw talent, pure passion, and one undeniable truth: these youth are ready. They just need the stage. They need a platform and they need to be seen... The N'Kenge Foundation built 'Are You the Next Showstopper?' for that purpose. We are here to support them, to raise them up, to give them the tools, and to provide a platform for that passion.

It is truly a gift to be here. I'm so happy that I got to come here. Um, it was... I'm so excited for everything that we've done day after day. It's just been amazing. I've learned so much so far... I really found that you just have to really believe in yourself. All the teachers are so amazing at what they're saying in all the master classes and seminars. They truly just speak to me so good and they made me learn so much throughout the couple of days I've been here.

Honestly, it's just been amazing. I feel like all the counselors help so much, all the teachers, everybody is so friendly, so nice. I honestly really wouldn't change a thing. They're honestly so amazing.

I would say messing up here is really not a big deal. It's like if you mess up, honestly, you could just laugh it off later because everybody here is so supportive. So really just believe in yourself.

It was so nerve-wracking but so exhilarating. I got to get rid of the nerves and go to a place, which is all you can ask for being a performer and a storyteller.

I didn't do the college route. I wanted to have a life in the arts, and being a first-generation American, my mom wasn't exactly supportive of that... I'm fortunate to have some great friends who come and see me whenever I do community theater shows.

I went through a really rough time recently, and a struggle with mental health... representing what I've been through. And it just really speaks to me in this time. It's so heavy, but in the right way that I can use that, you know, and use it as a therapy... I think I achieved a goal of mine, which is to be vulnerable about mental health and show that this is something really serious that so many artists, especially, struggle with. And I just... I'm proud that I wore my heart on my sleeve tonight.

I love being able to do what I do and show people all my music... It's all about the story and I think I share my story through music... Don't worry about the hard times, because without hard times, there'll never be good times. And if there are never good times, nothing will be fun.

I always feel proud of myself because it's not easy what we performing artists do for a variety of reasons. Was it my best performance? No, and that's okay. It's all about strengthening the muscle of performing because, as you artists know, it's not a constant every day that you get to be on stage. So, yeah, I just want to say to myself, like, it's a marathon and it's all about strengthening the muscle, and I showed up and that's what I did. So for that, I give myself 100%.

This show, Are You The Next Showstopper?! is about taking risks and also being true to you and your style. So I felt, you know, go for it because this is more me of how I would sing it... Mostly that when I'm doing my work, it's work that I love, where I am having fun every day.

I was so scared, even last week, because I knew that I would be coming to New York for the first time and I would be performing. And I'm glad I came here though. It was awesome. New York has been amazing and it was great... I just want to shout out my parents, my vocal coach, and my whole entire family. They're amazing. They're all so supportive.

We just had so much fun at that last competition that we wanted to come to this competition as well. And we're just so thankful to be able to come here and have fun and it's great... Thank you so much for having me and I'm just so grateful to meet you and others.

As soon as I saw the listing, I was like, oh, that's really interesting, so why not just put myself out there? Um, and come to find out, I was one of the finalists selected. Didn't expect it, kind of just left it off, but I was very, very excited and very, very grateful to be selected, and be able to share my passion and share my gift with this audience.

So, I really enjoyed the competition. Um, I made a lot of new friends. I met a lot of new people and I believe that I love the judges here. They're so amazing. Yeah. So overall, the experience was really, really fun and I really loved it.