THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 10, 1994 TAG: 9406080168
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: E12C EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940610 LENGTH: Medium
At the recent Miss Teen Chesapeake Pageant, the first pageant she ever entered, the daughter of David R. and Lucy R. Miceli wowed the audience with her soaring rendition of Mariah Carey's ``Hero.''
{REST} In fact, the Greenbrier teen's rendition of the Carey tune brought whoops from the pageant audience. It helped her score the highest talent rating at the competition and also helped her nab the pageant's third runner-up award.
It's a voice one wouldn't expect to come from petite Jackie.
``She has a gift,'' her mother said.
But don't take proud mom's word for it.
``I've been teaching her for a couple of years, now,'' said Jackie's voice teacher Beverly Hedberg, who teaches out of her Kempsville home. ``She definitely has a gift, a very musical gift. I think she has considerable potential in classical as well as the pop realm.''
``I would say its an exceptional voice,'' said Millie Harris, who has taught voice in this area for the past 20 years at her Harris Voice Studios and sang with the New York City based Metropolitan Opera Studio, a Met performing group that takes opera to schools and to other non-traditional settings. ``She has a very resonant voice and a power that's just amazing.''
Jackie has sung at an April 14 ``Shakespeare In Song'' program produced by Harris at the Cavalier Yacht Club in Virginia Beach.
``She did Shakespeare in an excellent manner,'' Harris said. ``She was well received by the audience and has a pleasant stage presence.''
In fact, the Greenbrier Christian Academy ninth-grader loves to give of her musical gift.
``I love to sing for others,'' Jackie said. ``I love to sing gospel songs, and opera arias, too. They help my vocal range.''
Jackie has sung at nursing homes throughout the region, at weddings, various churches, for the Christian Women's Club, at Chesapeake City Hall during the National Day of Prayer, on the ``Open Door Chapel'' radio program on WODC, at the Tidewater Christian Schools Musical Festival where she won first place in the solo category and has even performed the past two years at the Neptune Festival.
One would think someone with that kind of talent would develop a huge ego. Not Jackie.
She's a naturally effervescent teen with a quick smile who considers her singing career a fun part of her life. Rather than dwell on her solo singing exploits, she'd rather talk about the Choral Ambassadors, her high school choir.
``I like performing a lot, and I really like to be with the school choir, they're my friends,'' Jackie said with a smile.
In fact, one of her most memorable singing experiences came at a Northern Virginia Bob Evans Family Restaurant during a school choir tour.
``The waitress asked us if we were a choir,'' Jackie said with a twinkle in her eye. ``After we said, `Yes,' they wanted to hear us sing. We sang a praise medley a cappella, and everyone in the restaurant sat in silence and then cheered us. That was really neat.''
Although Jackie's had years of performing experience she still gets a little nervous before going on.
``My hands will sweat like crazy,'' she said, lowering her eyes. ``But once I get into the song, I only think about the performance.''
But Jackie isn't all song.
She does well in school and is the vice president of her freshman class. She loves cheering and doing ``fun things with my friends in my spare time.'' This summer she hopes to go cheering camp and, of course, take more voice lessons.
``She's quite a young lady,'' Hedberg said. ``She needs more study and voice training but then again even Pavarotti still takes lessons.''
by CNB