OK, now it's 19 hours later and I really, really miss Siobhan Magnus.
I was dismayed Wednesday (see previous blog) when she was ousted from "American Idol." I'm even more dismayed after talking to her today and finding her to be an immensely bright and interesting person. Here's the story I sent to papers:
By MIKE HUGHES
Siobhan Magnus says she won't spend
much time mourning her “American Idol” departure. “I have so
many big ideas.”
That starts with being a rock singer,
but there's more. Magnus, ousted Wednesday, wants to:
– Have a role in a horror film “with
all that special effects and gore.” She's a huge horror fan who
gives her friends elaborate make-up every Halloween.
– Be in family projects directed by
her oldest brother (a filmmaker) and including all six siblings. It
would be a Magnus movie.
– Do anything funny. “I try to
bring comedy into everything we do.”
– And, especially, do musical
theater. “I do want to be in 'Phantom of the Opera' some day.”
The top “Phantom” role requires a
super soprano, hitting the high notes. For Magnus that's a cinch.
That started in high school, she said.
“I'm an avid shower singer, much to the dismay of my family.”
While toying with a song there, she
found a way to position her throat in a different way, hitting
ultra-high notes. “I started doing that in chorus and in my band.”
Some of that comes from records of
Janis Joplin, the master of the primal scream. “I learn very much
by imitation,” Magnus said.
She has no formal voice-training.
Magnus 20, did apply to the prestigious Berklee College of Music, but
only made it to the waiting list; she briefly went to Salem State,
but then returned to Marstons Mills, Mass., where she's surrounded by
music.
Her dad sings locally; two of her
uncles have been in national groups (Stryper and Ultrasonic Rock
Orchestra). She lives in Cape Cod, encased in individuality (“I've
always been a different type of person”) and the arts.
Magnus starred in big Barnstable High
School musicals and in “Shakespeare by the sea” shows. For the
past three years, she's worked at a glassblowing shop, usually
dealing with customers and sometimes being an apprentice blower. “In
many ways, it has helped shape me (and) my work ethic.”
And she's taken her band to rock clubs.
Magnus said she likes the little ones in Hyannis (three miles from
the Hyannis Port of Kennedy family fame), but says she's happy being
“anywhere I can scream.”
Now – finishing No. 6 in “Idol”
and heading on tour – she'll have bigger crowds to scream to.