Union City residents Michael and Patricia St. Pierre first realized that their daughter Nicole Ortiz, 13, was talented after they heard her sing “I Will Always Love You” with Whitney Houston while driving in their car before Ortiz was even 8 years old.
“They all just gave me this dumbfounded look,” said Ortiz, who recently finished the seventh grade at Sacred Heart School in Kearny. “It was like, ‘Huh.'”
Since then Ortiz has sung karaoke at a street fair in Harrison and at many restaurants and private parties with her father before winning the New Jersey News’ Hispanic Youth Showcase on June 1 at the Victoria Theater in the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.
Michael St. Pierre works as a vocal coach and runs karaoke nights for restaurants and private parties, where Ortiz often works to break in the crowd.
“Usually there will be kids there, and once Nicole sings, others start coming up,” said Patricia St. Pierre, Ortiz’s mother.
“It is fun because you want to get the crowd going,” said Ortiz.
While Ortiz has been singing karaoke at various restaurants in Newark, Elizabeth and Harrison since she was 8 years old, she was still a little nervous singing in front of the large audience that assembled for the Hispanic Youth Showcase the past three years.
“I was nervous getting in front of all those people,” said Ortiz, who has been a finalist in the competition three years in a row before finally winning this year. “But then I loosened up once I started singing.”
The showcase, in its 15th year, holds competitions in three categories; instrumental, dance and vocal, and in two age groups; from 8 to 12 and 13 to 17.
More than 100 youngsters competed in January, and the six finalists in each category were notified in March with a letter.
To be eligible for the contest, contestants must be of Hispanic heritage, perform as soloists and provide their own accompaniment.
Ortiz, who is Peruvian, sang “And I am Telling You,” a song performed by Jennifer Holiday in the Broadway Musical Dreamgirls, for the judges at NJPAC.
“It is a very hard song to sing,” said Nicole, who chose the upbeat song after listening to her father playing a Jennifer Holiday CD. “It is a belting song.”
NJN chose two winners in each category. The winners will be seen in a one-hour program on NJN in early August, which won a 2000 mid-Atlantic Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Program/One-Time Only Special from the Philadelphia regional chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, along with receiving a $500 scholarship to be used at any school, a free trip to Six Flags Great Adventure and a plaque. While Nicole has plans of becoming a pop vocalist, she admits that all of her singing has just been for fun. “I like to sing a little bit of everything,” said Nicole who enjoys singing 1950s and ’60s doo-wop hits with her father. “I like such a variety of music, especially showtunes.”
Nicole and the other contest winners can be seen performing at the Newark Museum’s Caribbean Festival on June 24. Nicole plans to perform “Proud Mary.”
The showcase is funded by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Goya Foods, Inc., The United Way of Essex and West Hudson, Verizon Public Service Electric and Gas the PNC Bank and Six Flags Great Adventure.