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Valrico Teen Makes National TV Debut

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By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 20, 2008

VALRICO - Although 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 Brandon 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 of 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 televised 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 Honaker, 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 Disney World in Orlando and Disneyland in Los Angeles.

She suggested her son try out. Because it was close to the end of his senior year, and he had finished all his tests, Honaker jumped at the opportunity to miss a day of school.

"I figured I wouldn't make it anyway," JohnWesley Honaker said.

As evidenced by the posters and trophies throughout his bedroom, Honaker is into sports. His focus has been on soccer and helping Grace Christian win the state championship three out of the past four years.

In between, he won some singing roles in school plays.

And he sings in church. His father, Johnny Honaker, is senior pastor of the River of Life Assembly of God, with campuses in Riverview and Wimauma.

After the younger Honaker performed in "Beauty and the Beast" at Grace Christian in ninth grade, Music Showcase of Brandon vocal coach Miguel Oquendo approached him and gave him his business card.

"He said he liked my voice and told me to give him a call," Honaker said. "I kept the card, but soccer, basketball, baseball or something else always got in the way. Then, finally, about a year ago, I called and started taking lessons. Miguel's very patient."

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 about 1,000 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.

One of the judges, acting coach Rob Adler, told Honaker his voice could use some work and was curious about how his voice would change as he moved on in the competition.

"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.

Honaker said he wasn't at his best in that performance. He didn't make the cut.

"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 in the competition. 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 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. To see a video of Honaker's performance, visit brandon.TBO.com, Keyword: Honaker Video.

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