communityshefest
At the end of the day, you have to realize
80,000 people auditioned and only one of them got to win. All the way up to top eight…I
had been just so surprised I even made it.”
“Heart Centered Yoga and Sound Healing” with Nicole Treadaway and “Creating Connections through Partner Dance” with Cori-ography. A myriad of other activities include a resource fair, San Diego Humane Society’s mobile adoptions, as well as lawn games such as: giant Jenga, corn hole, hula hoops, frisbees and more. This year’s SheFest headliner is San Diego native
and American Idol Season 15 AlumAvalon Young, with a meet and greet set up after her performance. Young has already performed in front of millions on network television and at sold-out tour dates across the U.S., receiving praise from the likes of Billboard and shooting to the number two spot on iTunes’ R&B Album chart with her 2016 album, Shift.
Though Avalon’s claim to fame stems from being
a “Top Eight”American Idol contestant, she hopes to continue making timeless music that leaves a mark on the R&B music scene forever. Fans say it is Young’s relevant writings and artistry that they love and she attributes that to her success as an inde- pendent artist. “American Idolwas one of the most amazing blessings to ever come into my life and I do think it is important to keep doing what you are doing after the show,” she says. “You have this following now and all of these people around the world have recognized you as an R&B singer, so what are you going to do now with that? Periscopes are important,
16 RAGE monthly | JULY 2017
so is tweeting, Instagram and playing shows.” During her time onIdol, Young inspired America
with creative interpretations of Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself” and Chris Brown’s “Yo (Excuse Me, Miss),” showcasing her love of R&B and a desire to stand out from the pack simply by being herself. Ultimately, she says, the contestants on Idol got to make their own decisions — from song choice to wardrobe — and she doesn’t regret a thing. “I’m not America’s sweetheart, I’m just a little different, so when I went home in the top eight, I wasn’t really surprised,” she says. “At the end of the day, you have to realize 80,000 people auditioned and only one of them got to win. All the way up to top eight…I had been just so surprised I even made it. I thought I wasn’t going to get through Hollywood Week and now here I am with my first album on the charts at No. 2, it has been crazy.” Young picked up her first
guitar when she was seven. By age 16, Avalon started gigging around town and developed a following in the San Diego
music scene and she put out her first EP,Drowning in You, at the age of 18. By then, she knew this is what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. As she conveyed onIdol, Avalon hopes to inspire others to be true to themselves, to believe in themselves enough to pursue their dreams and work hard at it every day. Young became only the fifth San Diegan to
crack the Top 10 in the show’s history. But she acknowledged that, though winning was her ultimate goal, just being in the Top 10 was a big plus to her career. Other San Diegans who have finished in the Top 10 include A.J. Gil (eighth in Season 1), Carly Smithson (sixth in Season 7), Adam Lambert (second in Season 8) and Jessica Sanchez (second in Season 11). In just a tidbit of Hollywood scuttlebutt, in case you haven’t heard, American Idol is coming back in 2018, but this reboot will be on ABC (not FOX) and one judge has been announced thus far: Katy Perry.
For tickets and more info about SheFest, go
tosdpride.org/shefest.
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