An Idol Among Us
T 50
HINK BACK TO WHEN YOU were a child. What was your dream, down deep inside, longing to burst forth to consume your heart and soul? For Mount Pleasant’s Elise Testone, it was simple: to sing. Tat dream has blossomed, perhaps, in a
way even grander than she ever imagined. Last July, Testone, 28, auditioned for Fox’s Ameri-
can Idol in Savannah, singing Janis Joplin’s “Get It While You Can.” She received her gold ticket, and, by spring, she had advanced again and again – landing in the coveted Top 13. Testone who lived, performed and taught in Mount Pleasant, had become a star. “Te first thing I did when I found out I was an Idol finalist was kind of look around and try to really wrap my brain around what was happen- ing,” Tes- tone told Ameri- can Idol produc- ers.
After her
story by Amy Kehm
performance of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together,” judge Steven Tyler told Testone, “You got beauty in your soul.”
When she finished her vocal and piano performance
of Adele’s “One and Only,” Jennifer Lopez said Testone was, “so special and so different from everybody else in the competition.” Randy Jackson called her “a force to be reckoned with.” Testone grew up in New Jersey, where she recalled singing her first solo in elementary school – a song about barnyard animals. She studied music and vo- cal performance at Coastal Carolina University, then landed in the Lowcountry. Up until her departure for Hollywood, Testone
called Mount Pleasant home. In one American Idol video, she noted that she would sometimes perform lo- cally up to 10 times a week.
“I think what makes me unique is that I live and
breathe music,” Testone told producers. Before departing for the West Coast, Testone taught
vocal performance for four years at Mount Pleasant’s Music Unlimited. Owner Chris Holly said she was a hit with her students and showcased “a total love of music.” “Amazing and fantastic,” Holly said of Testone’s teaching abilities. “Very laid back, but very, very serious about music.” In March, Music Unlimited drum instructor Daniel
Krider flew to Los Angeles to watch Testone perform. Two of Testone’s students, MacKenzie O’Brien and Mary Williams, also visited her. “I couldn’t stop crying! I can’t help but cry watch-
ing the show at home every week, and sitting front row watching her sing live was no different,” O’Brien told Mount Pleasant Magazine. “I’ve seen her perform so many times, but this was really, really special.” Testone surprised the girls by calling them up onto
the stage.
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Photo courtesy of Fox.
Photo courtesy of Fox.
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