Local teen wins recording contract, new car

By JEFF HANOUILLE
Editor
ENFIELD – Teenager Olivia Gaines doesn’t know how to drive a manual transmission and up until last weekend, she had no reason to learn.
Things are a little different for the 18-year-old Enrico Fermi High School graduate now.
That’s because Gaines won the “Community Auditions” competition earlier this month at the MGM Grand theater at Foxwoods Resort Casino, which earned her a recording contract and a brand new 2010 Subaru Impreza.
Gaines, a music studies major at Manchester Community College, beat out hundreds of contestants throughout New England to win the competition. When her name was announced, she said it took her a while for the good news to settle in.
“I kind of just stood there and processed it, and when I finally did process it I was like, “Really?” Gaines said. “I didn’t get excited until I started seeing all of my family get excited. I just didn’t process it at first.”
Gaines said she found out about the competition when she came home from work one night and saw her mother watching the show on TV. She sent in her demo CD to the address provided by the show but didn’t hear anything back right away. After her mother sent an e-mail to the show to follow up, it was revealed that someone had called the wrong number. Gaines had been accepted to compete on the show all along, and her journey began this past July when the show invited her to perform.
In October, Gaines sang four songs in four rounds of competition including “At Last,” “Something to Talk About,” I Can’t Make You Love Me,” and “Son of a Preacher Man.”
In each round, Gaines competed against three other singers, defeating the other two competitors each time. Though she did all four rounds in one day, the show will break up the competition into four separate episodes.
Because she won in October, Gaines qualified for the championship show last Sunday, taking home the title with her performance of “Son of a Preacher Man,” which she had to sing in front of celebrity judges such as former “American Idol” contestant Justin Guarini.
For Gaines, the whole journey was surreal.
“I went into it not knowing how much of a big deal it really was and just wanted to see what would happen,” she said. “When I won the first two times I thought it was cool and would have been fine if it ended there. But then I just kept winning, and it was awesome.”
Gaines said that even though she’s never performed on such a large stage as Community Auditions, she never felt nervous.
“I was just so excited that I wasn’t nervous at all,” she said. “I was running on so much adrenaline I don’t actually remember performing or being on stage in the moment. I wasn’t nervous because I was just so excited.”
Gaines, who has been singing locally since she was nine years old, said she looks up to performers like Etta James, Kelly Clarkson and Katy Perry. She credits her father, Bill, for her rock-and-roll upbringing and influence.
“It’s a big deal,” her father said. “We’re very proud of her and we’re very happy for her. How many kids get an opportunity to win a new car? It’s just a great thing.”
Gaines’ mother agreed with her husband, saying she just wants to see her daughter have fun doing what she does.
“We were just hoping to make it (to the championship) and see her have fun,” Pamela Gaines said. “It’s what she wants to do and we’re happy to see her having fun doing it.”
Along with the recording contract and car, which Gaines picked up last Friday from Suburban Subaru of Vernon-Rockville, she and the other top four contestants received a laptop computer and camera.
Gaines said that because she won the recording contract, she will get to work with producer Bob Johnston, who has worked with other artists like Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Cash, and Willie Nelson.
The finals of the show will be televised at the end of January and Gaines’ other performances will air the next three Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. on WCTX-TV59, which is also known as MyTV9. For more information, visit www.communityauditions.com.