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Layla Rae Cash - Live on Star Factory Season 2 - Week 1The camera fades in to show a girl sitting on a chair in a studio, a wall with silver stars decorating it behind her. She has perfect platinum blonde hair, wavy and shoulder length, her perfect, flawless and smooth complexion showing a slight tan and the rosy tint in her cheeks from youthful exuberance and excitement. Her big, doe-like brown eyes shine almost as brightly as the perfect white smile which radiates brilliantly on the screen. She waits a few seconds, staring at the camera, before she looks just off screen and the smile fades a little.  “Oh was I supposed to speak just then?” She asks with a sweet voice, laced with a southern, strong country-styled Tennessee accent. She laughs a little as she brings a hand to her mouth, and someone off-screen yells “CUT!” at the top of their voice. A snap board, bearing the legend “Layla Rae Cash – Pre-bidding interview – Take 2” is held up in front of the camera, and a loud beep is heard. The blonde girl looks at the camera again and waits a second or two before she smiles and nods slightly, taking a deep breath. “Hiii,” comes the cute little country voice again. “My name is Layla Rae Cash, I'm 22 years old, and I was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee by my momma and daddy and my grandparents.” She looks at the camera again and laughs girlishly that she got it right this time. The camera cuts to a picture of Layla as a girl, and as the scene zooms into her picture, the voiceover starts again. “I had a pretty good life as a youngster. My momma and daddy both loved me very well and encouraged me to become as good as I could be by telling me to try my best in school always. But it was my granddaddy who always made me wanna be a singer. When my parents worked all summer long, I would visit my grandparents in their lodge at the lake, and me and granddaddy would sit and listen to his old Johnny Cash records by the lake all night. “I fell in love with country music from there, and I spent the summer of my ninth birthday with a lil old tiny acoustic guitar, just learning some chords and stuff and tryin' to figure out how to play my favourite country tracks on it.” The camera then cuts back to the main interview again, and Layla smiling her perfect smile at the screen. “From there,” she says, “I started playin' shows for my folks at the house, and they always told me I was good, but because I was always tryin' hard in school durin' the year and then movin' to the countryside in the summer, I never got the chance to play for many people.” Music in the background then starts to play slowly and demurely as Layla looks down a little. “I went to university after I left school for like four years and I learned a lot there, and in fact I became highly qualified....but it was the news I got after graduation last summer that changed my life. “My granddaddy came to me at home, and he said “Layla...I got something to tell you honey.” And then he told me that he was fightin' cancer. He had known for a year, but he loved me so much that he decided not to tell me during my final year at university. I cried for a long time, and I told him that I would do anythin' that I could to make him be proud of me.” She looks back up at the camera and wipes a small tear away. “I decided then to audition on Star Factory, and I wanted my granddaddy to come with me. He always dreamed of seein' me on the stage, and so to be able to give him that chance to watch me perform in front of hundreds of people at the audition, it would be the best present I could ever give him.” The camera cuts again to a black and white filtered view of Layla's audition for Star Factory, the voiceover still playing over the video.  “It was an amazin' feelin' to do that show, and I got an adrenaline rush to hear people cheer for me while I did my thing up there. I saw my granddaddy cry some tears of pride that day too. “What I just never expected was to get the call some months later that told me I was movin' on to the live shows with the judges and the whole votin' thing. It was like, I went almost numb when they told me I was through to the live show. I called all my family and they were so proud, and I just had to let it all sink in that it was really happenin'.” She smiles at the camera again. “Now that I'm here for real, I'm nervous, I'm excited, but more than anythin' I'm eager to show what I can do. I know I won't win the show, or I don't expect to, because there will be some amazingly talented people here at the Star Factory, but I just want to show who I am, and above all, I wanna make my granddaddy proud of me. That would be my dream come true...” The camera fades to black.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome LAYLA...RAE....CASH! A polite cheer and applause resonates around the Grey Ghost Arena as the stage goes dark, and the video screen on which her name and image had just been displayed fades out. Some lights come on to shower the stage in tiny little stars across the floor for a brief few seconds before they fade out again and a spotlight comes on at the back of the stage, bathing a silver staircase in a shimmering beam of white light and showing it glitter slightly in the brightness. The crowd is hushed as they wait for the appearance of the sweet and humble young southern country girl they have just seen on the big screens of the stage. Just then, there is a quiet, gentle and slow strum on a guitar, and a soft, sweet voice gently sings "da-da-da-da-da-da" repeatedly for a few seconds, as a beautiful blonde girl, clad in a pair of shorts, high black boots and a black short-sleeved shirt steps out from the darkness to be washed over by the shining spotlight. As she sees the crowd for the first time, her smile spreads widely across her face, partially excitement, but also clearly a little self conscious and nervous in her demeanour. She takes a deep breath though as she continues to strum her black guitar slowly, the timid nature of the song clearly mirroring the modesty of the girl playing it. She comes to a stop just in front of a microphone at the top of the stairs as she closes her eyes, readying herself to sing, with the nerves flowing through her as she tries to fight them down, never having had any experience of singing in front of a crowd this size at any time in her life before, never mind having to sing in front of five judges who she loves and respects so much for what they have achieved. She takes a deep breath as she prepares to allow her voice to be heard for the first time, as she continues to gently strum the quiet chords on her guitar, displaying a talent rarely seen among young wannabes on TV shows. She then opens her mouth, and as the first lines of Kelly Clarkson's Breakaway emanate from her throat, there is a cheer from the audience which causes her to smile slightly, her eyes still closed as she concentrates on getting over the nerves.  Her voice is soft and strong at the same time. It comes out of her mouth with a gentle sound, the words flowing together beautifully as she allows herself to naturally display her clear talent. Her voice is truly beautiful, with a sort of soft rasp that pushes home the country aspect of her character and musical styling, and after the initial swell of cheering, the audience goes almost hushed as they collectively sit listening to the almost perfect performance coming from a girl who had looked so nervous when she first stepped into the spotlight. Grew up in a small town
And when the rain would fall down
I'd just stare out my window
Dreaming of what could be
And if I'd end up happy
I would pray (I would pray)
Trying hard to reach out
But when I tried to speak out
Felt like no one could hear me
Wanted to belong here
But something felt so wrong here
So I prayed I could break awayAs she reaches the end of the second verse, Layla manages to open her eyes for the first time since she stepped onto the stage, her voice getting slightly stronger and more powerful as it builds to the crescendo ahead of the imminent chorus. When she sings the final line, her voice is accompanied by two backing singers down on the floor of the stage who harmonize perfectly with her, a far dimmer spotlight illuminating them as they stand there, holding onto their mic stands in long flowing black dresses. As the chorus begins for the first time, there is a small drum fill between the two vocal sections, the first time it has been anything except just Layla's guitar playing, and at this sound, the stage lights come back on slightly to show a band at the back of the stage as they accompany her through the rest of the song. When the chorus comes, Layla's voice is far stronger and has a lot of depth and power behind it as she goes up in key to sing the higher and more emotional section of the track, her smile returning as she watches members of the audience in front of her swaying gently from side to side in time with her music. She scans across the crowd and then focuses on the judges at the front of the stage, still in her lofty position atop the stairs, as she smiles, the confidence in herself now far more evident as she allows a wry smile to cross her face when she sings, an edge of showmanship even managing to creep in as she strums her guitar with increased confidence and widens her stance a little to look far-less apologetic and nervous, the lyrics of the chorus clearly not just a song, but resonating with her as she draws from its inspirational words to look like a different girl all of a sudden. I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
I'll do what it takes til' I touch the sky
And I'll make a wish
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget all the ones that I love
I'll take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway At the end of the chorus, her voice slows right down, and the guitars stop altogether momentarily, as the drums play a slow and subdued fill. At this point, Layla steps forward and quickly takes the microphone from its place atop the stand, swinging her guitar gently around to her back as she walks around the mic stand and to the top of the stairs, her personal spotlight following her and mirroring her every step. As the guitar begins again, this time not from her, she returns to the first part of the song again, singing the "da-da-da-da-da-da" section once more, but this time with a bit more vigour and confidence as she smiles her beautiful smile at the audience and judges watching her closely, stopping briefly to just brush one of the long waves of hair out of her face. She raises her microphone once more to her mouth as she takes another step forward. When the next verse begins again, with just drums as backing this time, and the guitars remaining quiet, Layla begins to descend the staircase, taking each step slowly as she does so. Without the guitar to back her up, her voice is much more exposed and in the spotlight itself. This is a cunning ploy however, as it allows her to showcase the haunting and powerful element to her voice. She effortlessly commands and dominates the verse, even with only the drums to back her up, and it never feels as if she is being sold short by singing without the guitar. She smiles widely as she reaches the bottom of the stairs and walks towards the front of the stage. As Layla gets to the front of the stage just in time for the second half of the verse and the chorus that is coming up, she puts the microphone on the stand that waits there for her, and she beams out at the crowd who she can hear a lot more clearly now. When the drum fill plays just before the second chorus, she shakes her head slightly from side to side in time with the music, clearly enjoying her time on the stage now a lot more than when she was plagued with nerves early in her performance. She looks up at the audience as she continues to sing the powerful chorus with the guitar on her back, her entire person a lot more exposed without the guitar as a physical barrier that she no longer has to hide behind. The confidence that pours out of her is evident now as her eyes and her smile shine brightly under the spotlight and she beams down at the judges watching her sing. Wanna feel the warm breeze
Sleep under a palm tree
Feel the rush of the ocean
Get onboard a fast train
Travel on a jet plane, far away (I will)
And breakaway At the end of the second chorus, as she sings the last line a lot slower, and her voice fades perfectly, Layla reaches behind her and pulls the guitar back in front of her again as she prepares to sing the bridge of the song. She smiles again as she lifts a pick from her mic stand and starts to strum as she sings the more edgy and quicker bridge, swaying slightly from side to side as she plays up to her deserved confidence a lot more than she was at the start. She turns around slightly to look towards her band at one point during the bridge before turning back around to smile out at the audience, never missing a single note as she does so, and clearly now feeling a lot more comfortable and at home on the stage than she had done earlier in her performance. She raises her hand above her head as she reaches towards the end of the bridge of the track, and the melody slows once more. She closes her eyes gently once again as she sings the soft last line of the section, trying to fight away the big smile that now seems plastered to her face. She grins and the music comes to a halt for a few seconds, every member of the band going silent as the stage is plunged into darkness again, and the spotlight comes back on again, just illuminating Layla as she stands there quietly, still and silently with her eyes closed gently. She smiles to herself again as the crowd await the end of the song. Buildings with a hundred floors
Swinging around revolving doors
Maybe I don't know where they'll take me but
Gotta keep moving on, moving on
Fly away, breakaway Just then, there is a crescendo of noise from the darkness, as the drummer plays a loud and powerful drum fill intro to the last chorus of the song. At that moment, Layla opens her eyes again and grabs onto her guitar. As she and the band start to play again, the entire stage is suddenly bathed in a brilliant white light, bringing a loud cheer from the crowd. The key change to a higher tone makes the final chorus sound far-more epic than those that came before it, and Layla beams out once more as she drinks in the adulation. She bends her knees as she sings through the last chorus with a vigour and passion that showcases the strength and power she has in her voice, and she strums along on guitar along with the rest of the backing band. As they continue to play the final chorus, the screens behind Layla display her full name in massive letters. With this, and the fact that she commands the stage so well, it almost feels like this is one of her own concerts rather than a bid to secure herself a mentor for the rest of this competition. She smiles again at the judges.
I'll spread my wings
And I'll learn how to fly
Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye
I gotta take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget the place I come from
I gotta take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway, breakaway, breakaway
At the end of the chorus, for the last line, everything goes quiet one last time, as Layla is once more the only person on the stage visible in her spotlight. Once more, she repeats the word "Breakaway" slowly and quietly, before she strums her guitar for a final time and then smiles broadly at the massive and raucous reaction from the crowd in front of her. She beams out and brings her hands to her mouth in shock before she breathes a sigh of relief and wipes one or two stray tears from her eyes before she is joined on stage by Christina Ortega, whom she hugs and says something inaudible to, before returning her hands to her mouth again and finally blowing some kisses to the crowd, before turning towards the judges. It hadn't been the polished performance of a pro tonight, but rather the visual growth of a real talent who went from nervous rookie to a real performer in front of everyone's eyes to show that she has a wonderful voice, some excellent skills, and the major potential to go places. |
