TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Missed School Day Turns Into National 'High School Musical' Contest Debut For Valrico Teen

Tribune photo by D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE

JohnWesley Honaker plays his guitar in his Valrico bedroom after his national television debut. “I’m just a normal kid with potential,” he said.

ADVERTISEMENT

By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 6, 2008

VALRICO - While he didn't win the opportunity to make his own music video as a contestant on "High School Musical: Get in the Picture Competition," Valrico native JohnWesley Honaker managed to win the hearts of teenage girls from around the country July 20 when he made his national TV debut.
The 18-year-old 2008 graduate of Grace Christian School in Valrico was among 12 finalists who performed on the ABC summer reality show hosted by pop singer and actor Nick Lachey, best known for his appearance on a reality TV show with his former wife, Jessica Simpson.
Honaker and five other contestants were eliminated in the first round, but not before he had a chance to perform a duet of the Backstreet Boys' hit "I Want It That Way" with contestant Bailey Purvis from Louisiana in front of millions of television viewers.
The performance, which can be seen on the popular video Web site YouTube, has generated more than 2,200 hits along with comments from fans disappointed that Honaker, who was portrayed as the class clown during the auditions, was eliminated.
"OK, John should have moved on. I love his voice and goofy personality. He's cute, too," said one devotee.
"John did awesome. It would have been real cool to see him go on, I think he is so cute," commented another admirer.
Honaker took it all with a grain of salt. After all, the experience was just an excuse to get out of class.
His mother, Cecelia, was surfing the Internet in May when she came across a notice about a casting call for the reality show. Auditions were being held at both Disney World in Orlando and Disneyland in Los Angeles.
She suggested her son try out. Since it was close to the end of his senior year and his testing was completed, Honaker jumped at the opportunity to miss a day of school.
"I figured I wouldn't make it anyway." said Honaker.
His only experience has been singing in school plays and at church.
When Honaker arrived at the "High School Musical: Get in the Picture Competition" casting call at the Wide World of Sports baseball stadium in Orlando, there were a thousand other teens from across the country waiting to audition. Many had been preparing for this moment all their lives. Honaker figured he didn't stand a chance.
"I waited an entire day to audition," he said. "I was just kind of taking it all in. I met Nick Lachey. That was fun."
He filled out some paperwork, answered some questions. Then, to his surprise, he was called back for another audition in front of a single judge, then another in front of all six judges, then another.
"Next thing I knew, they handed me a card and sent me down this red carpet, and I got to move on," Honaker said.
The one-day excuse to miss class turned into two weeks of whirlwind activity culminating with Honaker's television debut.
Unfortunately, Honaker said he wasn't at his best during that critical performance.
"Between the heat and nerves, I got really sick," he said. "They chose six finalists from the East Coast and West Coast to go on. I found out that I was seventh."
Even so, he signed a contract with Disney Studios for possible future work. Until then, Honaker will proceed with plans to attend Southeastern University in Lakeland in the fall to major in communications and minor in music.
He said he's not sure what the future holds for him.
"I'm not ruling anything out," he said.

Reporter D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524 or dlwhite@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT