At the end of every fall semester, there’s a craze that hits the air for every college student. With finals to study, papers to start and planes to catch, who has time anymore to celebrate the season?

One student does ‘- senior CarolAnn Fazio. A theatre minor, she loves to perform and share her talents.

This holiday, she was asked to sing at The Shops at Wiregrass in Wesley Chapel, FL. In her busy schedule, this star still found time to give something to the community while finding Christmas spirit through it all.

Nov. 14, 2008 1:30 p.m.
With classes at UT coming to a close, I was quite nervous when my mom asked me if I wanted to perform at The Shops at Wiregrass on either Dec. 5 or Dec. 19. This past semester was quite a heavy workload for me so before agreeing to performing there, I wanted to see if I had enough time to prepare for the show since I was asked to sing Christmas songs. I decided that Dec, 19 would work for me and I began to prepare for the event.

Nov. 16, 2008 10:30 a.m.
Because of the event being outside and no equipment was going to be supplied, my mom and I were on the hunt for a DJ who could accompany me and bring his own equipment, where I could plug in my cordless microphone. I called my producer Nick Pages with Crystal Blue Productions and asked him if he knew of anyone that could help me out with this performance and he gave me some contacts. I was very grateful to him and excited that everything was working out.

Nov. 21, 2008 2:00 p.m.
Anxiously, I informed my voice teacher, Al Koehn, of my performance and we immediately started to pick Christmas songs. I’ve never put on a show with Christmas songs so I was quite worried. We decided classics, ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’, ‘Let It Snow’, ‘Merry Christmas Darling’, ‘Rocking Around the Christmas Tree’, ‘The Christmas Song’, and ‘Jingle Bells’. We did a quick vocal warm-up on the piano and I started to sing the songs. As I left the lesson, I felt more comfortable with the songs and confident.

Nov. 26, 2008 7:30 p.m.
I arrived home at my parents house in New Tampa and I began to work on my songs with my Fender Passport PA system. Everything was sounding pretty good but I was fearful that I was getting sick. And I was. I knew this would hold me up from practicing and I felt very unfortunate.

Dec. 1, 2008 11:00 a.m.
I called my voice teacher to notify him that I would have to cancel my weekly Wednesday lesson because of my sickness. Along with my schoolwork and finals approaching, I was continuing to learn the lyrics to the Christmas songs. I added the Christian song ‘Adore’ by Jackie Velasquez to the song list. This was a nice addition since I sang this song at my sister Camille’s wedding back in December of 2007. She would be attending the show so I knew it would bring back sweet memories.

Dec. 3, 2008 4:00 p.m.
With finals approaching, I was putting off learning the songs and the lyrics. Now I was becoming worried that I wasn’t going to be prepared.

Dec. 11, 2008 10:00 a.m.
I moved out of my UT dorm for the winter break into my parents house in New Tampa. Since finals were done and I was feeling better, I was now focused on my performance and songs. I set the date to rent the equipment for the show and was very happy that it was not too expensive since I would not be getting paid for my performance. It was purely for exposure and helping the community get into holiday spirit, which I was very excited about.

Dec. 16, 2008 3:30 p.m.
My parents and I get lost on our way to pick up the equipment. I was grateful when we found the place on Armenia Avenue. I was thrilled that the sales associate, Bill, was very nice and through when he explained how to set up the speakers, mixer, and monitor. When we arrived home and set it up, at first, it did not work. After multiple tries, we finally got it to work. With each volume of the songs being different, it took time getting the levels adjusted to the music without the microphone giving feedback.

Dec. 17, 2008 2:00-4:00 p.m.
I decided to have a double lesson with my voice teacher, which was a very good idea. He helped me find the meaning behind each song and advised me to sing each song with feeling and confidence. I continued to work on each song that night with the equipment I would be using for the show. The neighbors were probably not too happy about the volume of the speakers but I had to practice because I wanted to put on the best show possible.

Dec. 18, 2008 1:00 p.m.
With the show approaching, I was becoming more nervous and antsy. But overall, I was excited to sing in front of the large audience. I added an original song written for me by Gabriel Maciocia from Slack Entertainment called ‘Miracle,’ which was my Dad’s favorite song and it fit in with the Christmas spirited songs. I eagerly practiced this song.

Dec. 19, 2008 5:15 p.m.
With the help of my parents, I brought the equipment to The Shops at Wiregrass stage, which was located in front of the giant Christmas tree. I was very grateful to do a sound check and adjust any sound levels that needed to be. I leave to go get ready.

Dec. 19, 2008 6:30 p.m.
I arrive back at The Shops at Wiregrass stage and now my adrenaline is pumping and my confidence is up. I am ready to perform. Seeing my family and friends who came to support me is very uplifting.

Dec. 19, 2008 7:15-8:00 p.m.
After the Christmas light show I arrive onstage to perform. I had an amazing time giving back to the community through my talent of voice. I was thrilled to see all the little children coming up and sitting close to the stage singing along with me. The best part was the audiences’ interaction with me, singing and clapping along to the songs. I had a great time and I look forward to performing there again.

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