Block 1
RETURNED MISSIONARY NAMED FINALIST AT NATIONAL CHINESE VERSION OF “AMERICAN IDOL”
On August 15, after weeks of competition across the United States, twelve contestants were chosen to compete in the August 22nd Los Angeles finals for ETTV’s “Top Idol” Chinese pop singing competition.Among them is returned missionary, Jimmy Hales. “I never expected to get here,” he says. “I stumbled on the competition by accident. Literally, I was visiting my sister in California for the weekend and we saw a bunch of people on a stage in a mall, singing in Chinese. It turned out to be the first audition.” Hales, a white computer programmer living in Arizona who learned how to speak Mandarin fluently while serving a 2-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, also just happens to be a singer. He is the only contestant who isn’t Asian.
“My sister told them I speak Mandarin, and within 30 seconds they put a microphone in my hands and brought me to the stage.” After impressing the judges with impromptu versions of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and a Chinese pop song, Hales was invited to return to California to Round 2, so he flew back to Los Angeles a following weekend. Soon he was flying from Phoenix to Los Angeles every weekend as he continued to advance in the competition. “It’s costing me a lot of money in airline tickets,” he says, “but I’m having fun.” The winner takes home a $10,000 prize. “This whole thing is hilarious,” his sister Jolie says. “We have laughed a lot at the randomness of it all. But now that he actually has a shot at winning $10,000, it’s game time. He needs votes!” The competition, modeled after “American Idol,” holds auditions around the United States, and then widdles down the talent each episode as the contestants perform at least one new song each week. A panel of judges counts for 50% of a contestant’s score, and the other 50% comes from voting on Facebook, Instagram, a website, and on ETTV’s app. Final voting ends at noon on Friday. Most songs are performed in Chinese, but some are performed in English. The show airs weekly on a US network popular with Chinese-speaking Americans, which is also popular in Taiwan. This isn’t the first time Hales has been in this situation. While working in China a few years ago, he stumbled across a mall audition for China’s version of “The Voice,” so he shrugged his shoulders and entered. He made it through weeks of the competition before being cut for not knowing enough Chinese pop songs. This time, each round he’s advanced has amplified his surprise.. “I’m just grateful to make it this far,” he says. “This is an adventure never expected to be a part of.”
Block 2 and 3
The musical, written by Doug Stewart and Lex de Azevedo, was based on the premise that “there is more to life than just this life.” It follows a fictional Mormon family with a teenage son struggling with his faith, and also the love story of promises made before this life. Saturday’s Warrior struck a chord with audiences everywhere, Mormon or not. Thousands brought their friends. Lives were touched. Hearts were changed.
It’s been 40 years, and we, Rachel and Emilie – two of Lex de Azevedo’s daughters, have felt that it is time to share the music and message of Saturday’s Warrior as never before. We are thrilled to be a part of producing a big-screen motion picture of Saturday’s Warrior—with your favorite songs, an amazingly talented cast, and a screenplay that captures the magic of the original play. The film takes place in groovy 1972, yet the message is surprisingly perfect for today. Would you believe the hard part was convincing our dad, Lex?
Over the past four decades, scarcely a week goes by that someone doesn’t stop our dad and tearfully tell him that Saturday’s Warrior changed their life, or the life of someone close to them. Growing up, all of us siblings were asked to deliver these messages to our dad. While most of the messages came from total strangers, each message left us connected.
The 1970s musical changed thousands of lives. We see no reason to stop there. Let’s change millions of lives! We think that the world needs to know…there is more to life than just this life.
Saturday’s Warrior KickStarter
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