A local girl won a coveted spot on the popular television program ‘The Singing Bee,’ where she had the opportunity to compete for the prize of $10,000.
The show, which airs on CMT, is a musical game show where the contestants compete by filling in the blanks as they sing a variety of songs, karaoke-style.
The episode featuring Grayson County’s Ashley Williams aired on Friday, May 25.
“Ever since ‘The Singing Bee’ came out 4 seasons ago, I had always told my parents that I would be on the show,” Williams exclaimed.
She said that she sent an email including a photo of herself and asking “Please please please put me on the bee!” Williams was surprised the next day with a phone call inviting her to an audition in Nashville, one of four cities nation-wide where 2,500 would-be contestants were trying out for the show.
“I knew my chances of being chosen were very slim,” she said, explaining that only 90 contestants would be chosen from the huge pool of applicants.
“I’ve never been one to get nervous,” Williams said, so when her turn to audition arrived, she said she decided to “act silly, be myself, and give it my all.”
“I even played my little air guitar for them,” she laughed.
As fate would have it, the judges loved Williams and her air guitar, and three days later she received a call saying that she had made it onto the show.
”I remember replying, ‘Shut up! I’m so excited right now! I could just pee my pants!’” Williams said, adding that she was “literally jumping up and down in my living room.”
On February 28, Williams, along with 15 other contestants, flew to Los Angeles, California for the filming of the show.
“Nothing can really prepare you for the adrenaline rush you feel when you step into the studio of your favorite t.v. show,” Williams enthused. “It was so cool to see how everything worked and how it felt to be behind the scenes.”
She said that her favorite part of the experience was meeting the show’s host, Melissa Peterman. She said she was “a little star-struck at first,” and added that Peterman managed to be “even funnier in person than she is on t.v.”
Williams said that when the show aired, her friends and extended family gathered to have a cookout, play corn hole, and “cram” into the living room to watch the show.
“Being on the show was the most fun thing I’ve ever got to do,” Williams said. “I made friendships that will last a lifetime, got to see L.A., and fulfilled by wish of being on a game show. It’s something I wouldn’t change for the world.”
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