News editor
Angel Funk of Florence isn’t the kind of person who sings for an audience often. The only times she has been part of a choir were times it was required for school. But when the Marion High School senior heard TV show “American Idol” was going to have auditions in Dodge City, she decided to take a chance and try to overcome her stage fright.
“I love to sing, and a lot of people tell me I’m good at it,” she said.
Funk went Aug. 24 to Dodge City for preliminary auditions in front of two of the show’s producers. She heard about 300 hopefuls performed at the auditions.
“I actually had one of the judges singing along with me,” she said. “I sang ‘Jesus, Take the Wheel,’ and one judge liked me, but the other judge didn’t.”
The judges told her she had a good singing voice, but she needed to sing stronger. Funk wasn’t one of the five singers chosen for the next step in auditions, but she plans to try again in the future.
She is hopeful that her performance was good enough to get her on television when “American Idol” shows some of the preliminary auditions. The auditions in Dodge City were recorded, and Funk was selected for a taped interview after her performance.