Temple senior Julia Young competes in Philly singing competition

Many Temple students spend their time after class studying and working on assignments in the Tech Center, Paley Library or in their rooms. But Julia Marie Young, a senior communications major at Temple, spends her time practicing for her Tuesday night performances at the Tabu Lounge and Sports Bar on South 12^th street in between class and homework.

Josh Schonewolf, creator of the competition Songbird: The Search for Philly’s Best Singer, contacted Young at the end of last semester about the opportunity to be a part of the fifth season. Schonewolf chooses contestants from video submissions, but he also takes recommendations from participants of the competition. This was how Young, who is friends with several contestants from season four, was considered for the season.

This season started in February. A month before the competition, there was a photo shoot for all of the contestants. For Young, this meant four weeks of connecting with working professionals from all over, singing in front of crowds every Tuesday night, avoiding eliminations, and gaining fans from the bar and on social media.

Young was musically inclined from a young age, coming from an Irish Catholic family who were also musically involved. Her grandmother was a painter and a guitarist and taught all of Young’s aunts and uncles how to play guitar. Young’s cousins have been in cover bands, and she and her siblings studied music since they were old enough to learn.

Young attended Archbishop Ryan High School, where she was a part of the school newspaper and took journalism classes.

“I had this thought in high school that I kinda want to make money, and I don’t want to be in debt, so I should take up something different. So I went into the communications track in high school. Did media, did the paper.”

However, after seeing other people in high school pursue singing and music, she realized it was something that she could do, or at least try out. Once she graduated from high school, she started working at the Walnut Street Supper Club, which is now called Cibo Ristorante Italiano, at 12^th and Walnut. Here, customers could hear people sing and watch them perform classic songs.

“Everyone there were graduates from college, and they were all working professionals. And they were all really phenomenal and it made me really, really work hard on singing.”

Unlike the Walnut Street Supper Club, the Songbird competition at the Tabu is a space where customers can shout and throw money at contestants to show them they love the performance. Young had people screaming “Yaaas! You got it queen!” and similar things during her performances, which was unique for Young compared to her time working at the restaurant, where everyone was formal and focused on their dinners.

A few weeks ago, Young performed the song “Heroes,” by David Bowie, where she experienced the full interaction of the crowd. Everyone was waiting for her to sing.

“It was maybe loud for the first ten seconds of the song, but it went dead quiet. And a few people that were in the back, not in the stage area but near the bar, said that people stopped ordering drinks. People stopped talking. People stopped moving. Nobody was making a peep.”

In particular, Young’s friend Keely Sibilia, who just won the last competition, was instrumental in preparing Young for Songbird.

“She has a similar singing style to me, and she really pushed me to realize that I have a much bigger creative mind than I was stunting myself to think. I don’t have to just work in PR. Don’t get me wrong. I love COM field. My major’s communications- I love the creative aspects and what not, but I realized that I really blossom in music.”

Young has been working on independent work, expanding her voice and seeing where her singing could go. She described singing as a work in progress.

“Any singer can tell you, especially if they have been doing it for the past 4 or 5 years, you’re going to learn something new about your voice every day.”

She discussed what music as a whole meant to her and what it means to the world.

“I think it’s an outlet for a lot of people who can’t express themselves on a verbal scale.” She then went on to say, “Music for me is like my second language. I grew up in this environment. If there was no music, I would be really depressed.”

Doctor visits are a side of singing that have been necessary for Young as well as many other singers. Young has had issues in the past with polyps, similar to The Sound of Music star Julie Andrews.

“Julie Andrews had polyps in her throat, and before they could master the surgery, after they removed the polyps, they said that she basically stunted her singing and that she was limited to what she could sing. And obviously that woman used to have a phenomenal soprano voice, and she said that she was really depressed for years after she couldn’t sing. Even when I hear the story, I start to tear up, because I couldn’t imagine what it would be like if I couldn’t sing.”

Contestants in the show have ranged from being in cover bands to being a psychiatric nurse, like contestant Joey Gallagher, to being a student, like Young, and to being on the road and participating in between gigs. A part of the competition is that contestants are given something to sing instead of being able to choose, which Young described as fun. She said that even if you don’t like singing it, you get to push yourself to make it sound good. Each week there is a theme. In the past, some themes have been David Bowie, Disney and Beyoncé.

Young also described the bond between the contestants as being like a community and a very emotional experience. They all want each other to win.

“As much as it’s a competition, it’s also a family. When somebody doesn’t make it through that week, it’s such a loving experience. Everyone goes upstairs, and the hugs we all give that person who doesn’t make it puts me in awe because it’s such a loving hug.”

The winner of the competition receives a $2000 cash prize, a concert with five or six opening acts comprised of Songbird contestants and the chance to be a headliner and do an hour and a half set. Young mentioned how Sibilia did 11 songs in her set after winning the competition, which was the longest set she had ever done.

“I’m not saying that I don’t want to win, but this experience, in and of itself, is so much for me that if I don’t win, I’m going to be okay with it. This has been a really big experience.”