Joelle James

Southwest Stars Shine, but Don't Advance
The Californian, March 1, 2003
By John Hall

Singing their young hearts out before a packed studio audience during a live television broadcast, two Southwest County girls and a 12-year-old Utah boy took it down to the wire before an Internet vote made David Archuleta the winner of Friday's "Star Search" semifinals.

Victoria Kelly, 10, of Canyon Lake, and Joelle James, 12, of Murrieta, performed to an 18-point three-way tie with David before host Arsenio Hall announced that the Utah boy had won by a very slime 0.2 points.

Immediately following each performance, a panel of celebrity judges tells how many "stars," or points, each receives ---- from one to five.

The television viewing audience then votes, again from one to five, via the Internet.

Each youngster had 18 points after celebrity judging, and the Internet vote left Victoria and David at 34 points and Joelle with 32.

Arsenio Hall then read from a card and revealed the more exact Internet tally which resulted in 15.9 points for Victoria and 16.1 points for David. He now moves on to the March 19 finals and a shot at a $100,000 grand prize.

When announcing their votes, each celebrity typically says something about what they thought of the performance.

Ben Stein, of the show "Win Ben Stein's Money," gave Victoria five stars and said he would have given her six stars if he could have. Two members of the singing group "Boyz II Men" ---- acting as one judge ---- also gave her five stars and told her they never expected that kind of voice from such a little girl.

Country singer Naomi Judd told Joelle that she has three things: "pure talent, attitude and R&B (rhythm and blues)" before giving her five stars. Stein also awarded Joelle five stars for taking a risk by "making that song your own," adding that the risk paid off.

Joelle sang a unique version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," which she said after the show was a song she had never before performed.

"I just learned it this week, actually," she said.

Both Victoria and Joelle said after the show that they felt more comfortable this time than they did in the first round.

"I felt a little nervous before I went on, but once I started singing I didn't feel nervous once," Victoria said.

The Calvary Christian School fourth-grader performed the song "Blessed," which she said she picked because it is a Christian song and performed by one of her favorite singers, Rachel Lampa.

Joelle said following the show that she "felt a great vibe from the audience," making it easier for her to perform. She said she learned from the first-round performance that it wasn't just a television show, but more like singing in front of a crowd that supports her.

"When I'm on stage, I feel more alive," the 12-year-old Thompson Middle School student said.

The girls said they received words of encouragement from the celebrity judges after the show ended.

After asking Judd to pose for a photo with her, Victoria said the famous singer said, "I was great and to keep on singing." Judd also complemented Joelle and said she would go far in the business.

"It was just incredible," Joelle's mother, Julie, said shortly after the show ended. "The talent of all of these kids was amazing.

"The crowd was on its feet when all three of them were performing," she said. "It sounds trite, but there really was no loser here. They all did so well." Because the girls are from the same area and at one time shared the same vocal coach, about 40 family and friends made their way to the 5 p.m. broadcast of the show via a chartered bus.

"We had people come in all the way from Kansas City and Arizona," Julie James said.

The James and Kelly families all agreed that they just wanted the girls to do the very best they could ---- win or lose.

"Both of them are so grounded," said Victoria's mother, Laura. "This didn't seem to overwhelm them at all." While Joelle is already fairly well known in Southwest County, having performed at sporting events throughout Southern California and at other local events, Victoria has sort of come out of nowhere.

That could very well change now for the Calvary Christian School fourth-grader.

"People have been talking to her (about future performances)," Laura Kelly said.

"I'm sure the valley will be seeing more of her now," the proud mother said.

With their "Star Search" performances now complete, its time for the two local youngsters to get back to every day life.

"I'm just going to go back to school and be a normal kid," Victoria said with a laugh.

"I had a lot of fun and didn't want it to end," Joelle said. "But it will be good to get back into the groove of doing what I normally do." For Joelle, that means a soccer tournament and "a lot of homework," according to mom.

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