The News Tribune Saturday/ April 12, 2003 / Tacoma, WA MARTINEZ: ‘You got the goods,’ Naomi Judd says By Karen Hucks - The News Tribune Stadium High School singer and guitarist Vicci Martinez didn’t make it past the semifinals on “Star Search” Friday night, but her hopes for stardom were hardly dashed. Martinez, 18, lost by two points in a round that would have gotten her closer to the television show’s ultimate prize - $100,000 and a recording contract. “I’ve opened a lot of doors for myself,” Martinez said hours after the live telecast. “That’s why today, I felt so great. Still, I’m on this little high. I can’t even explain it.” The show is seen by 14 million viewers, including a number of record producers. “All this is is exposure,” Martinez said. “I was going to keep doing the same thing - playing my music.” Her mother, Yolanda Martinez, said: “She’s a great entertainer. There are a lot of people who didn’t win on ‘Star Search’ who turned out to be pretty big.” Vicci Martinez, a senior at Stadium, is a singer-songwriter in the vein of Melissa Etheridge. Her third CD will be released later this year. A talent producer for “Star Search” said Martinez’s style - and the fact that unlike many teens, she plays the guitar - set her apart from other young entertainers. The experience came with a lesson from the judges, who said they loved Martinez’s stage presence but urged her to work on her enunciation. Naomi Judd, for instance, said she graded Martinez down because she couldn’t understand the words of the song, Bonnie Raitt’s “Love Sneaking Up on You.” “But you got the goods,” Judd said. Host Arsenio Hall flirted with Martinez, calling her “Vicci with two C’s” and hugging her. After the show, Martinez got to go into Judd’s dressing room, where she talked to her and her daughter, Wynonna Judd, and exchanged e-mails with Wynonna. “How cool is that?” said Reed Riley, her booking agent. Karen Hucks: 253-597-8660 karen.hucks@mail.tribnet.com BACK TO PREVIOUS PAGE

 

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