Mashanda Favors

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0><script type="text/javascript" src="http://hb.lycos.com/hb.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ratings.lycos.com/ratings/lycosRating.js.php"></script> <script type="text/javascript"><![CDATA[//><!]]></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://scripts.lycos.com/catman/init.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-start.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-middle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-end.js"></script> <noscript> <img src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/img/common/ot_noscript.gif?rand=156516" alt="" width="1" height="1" />  <iframe frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="728" height="90" src="http://ad.yieldmanager.com/st?ad_type=iframe&ad_size=728x90&section=209094"></iframe>  </noscript> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=125 BGCOLOR="#AAAAAA" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="03c467d1euxmic.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Kristi Singer</b></FONT><B>     |     </b><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Kristi Singer"><U><B>home</b></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id148.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mandorico"><U>Mandorico</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id186.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Marc Siegel"><U>Marc Siegel</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id140.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mark Wills"><U>Mark Wills</U></A>   |   <B>Mashanda Favors</b>   |   <A HREF="id222.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="matchbox twenty"><U>matchbox twenty</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id237.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Maybe Sunday"><U>Maybe Sunday</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id151.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Merl Saunders"><U>Merl Saunders</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id174.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Melissa Ferrick"><U>Melissa Ferrick</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id147.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Michelle Sims"><U>Michelle Sims</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id53.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tim Burton, Mighty Mighty Bosstones"><U>Tim Burton, Mighty Mighty Bosstones</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mighty Mighty Bosstones"><U>Mighty Mighty Bosstones</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id79.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Moe Black"><U>Moe Black</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Morning 40 Federation"><U>Morning 40 Federation</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id187.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mushroomhead"><U>Mushroomhead</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=190 BGCOLOR="#111111" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Writing Samples"><U><B>Back to Articles</b></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=355 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Mashanda Favors</div> <div> <B>N.C. student an N'Sync favorite                  </b></div> <div> Friday, September 8, 2000 </div> <div> <B>Kristi Singer, Morning Star correspondent</b></div> <div> <I>Wilmington Morning Star</I></div> <div> Copyright 2000 Wilmington Star-News</div> <bR> <bR> <div>     <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="arial" > Move over Whitney and Mariah- there's a new diva in the making. Mashanda Favors, a student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, was one of five finalists in a contest hosted by N'Sync's Lance Bass to find and sign an artist to his new management company, Free Lance Entertainment.</FONT></div> <div>      Free Lance Search 2000 held auditions in Dallas, Atlanta, Orlando, New York and Nashville this summer. According to Free Lance representative Stacy Lofton, nearly 600 artists auditioned.</div> <div>      Five artists were chosen to compete live on MTV for a chance to win a development deal with Free Lance. The 30-minute show, which aired Aug. 8, was co-hosted by Dave Holmes of MTV and Mr. Bass. The winner, 21-year old Ryan Tedder from Oklahoma, performed an original song with his acoustic guitar and won high marks from celebrity judges Pink, Brain McKnight and Robin Wiley.  Online votes from MTV viewers  were also factored into the decision. Entering the Free Lance contest was a case of being in the right place at the right time for Ms. Favors. She was visiting Atlanta in June to watch her current boyfriend, aspiring rapper, Mr. Dev'yon, perform for LaFace Records' showcase. She was only there for one day, but it was a pivotal day for her career. </div> <div>      "Our hotel was right next door to Planet Hollywood where they were having the auditions," Ms. Favors said. </div> <div>      Ms. Favors happened to have her music and photos with her, enabling her to audition. She performed an original song, and the Free Lance judges, (Diane Bass, Ms. Wiley and Todd Rubensteinr) liked her and asked to hear something a capella. She sang Deborah Cox's Nobody's Supposed to Be Here, the song she sang for the MTV finals. </div> <div>      Ms. Favors felt good about the audition and said she could tell the judges liked her.</div> <div>      "She blew every one of them away. They knew as soon as she sang that she had the talent to go somewhere," Ms. Lofton said. </div> <div>      Free Lance contacted Ms. Favors several weeks after the audition. She was given a month to prepare for her showcase on MTV.</div> <div>      Ms. Favors is used to the spotlight. The UNCC student performed with two other girls in a song and dance show called Metro-pop at Carowinds in Charlotte through the 1998 season. The group performed Spice Girls, Toni Braxton, and En Vogue tunes live four times a day. </div> <div>      "It was fun, I learned a lot doing that," she said. "It was a lot of exposure, being outside at Carowinds because people would come to listen to us because they thought we were lip synching at first, because we had to dance and sing at the same time." </div> <div>      However, being on national television would make anyone nervous and excited. Ms. Favors flew to New York the Thursday before the contest aired live. </div> <div>      "We had practice in the MTV studio on Friday before we did the show, so that helped me a lot. By the show time, I had been on the stage a few times so I wasn't as nervous," Ms. Favors said.</div> <div>      "I just felt really lucky to be able to come out like that. I mean, it's national television and I'm not even signed yet. IT meant so much, I didn't care if I won, the exposure was enough," Ms. Favors said. </div> <div>      "I can honestly say that every year I've progressed in some kind of way toward the goal I was trying to reach, and that was just one of those steps that I've taken," Ms. Favors said.</div> <div>       Ms. Favors took private voice lessons while attending UNC-Greensboro, where she attended before transferring to UNCC.</div> <div>      "I was classically trained and it helped in other areas. If you can sing classical, you can about sing anything. I think it's one of the hardest, if not the hardest form of singing out there," Ms. Favors said. </div> <div>      Ms. Favor's interest in music started at a young age, when she began singing in church and theater at 6 years old. </div> <div>      "(Singing has) always been something I always wanted to do," Ms. Favors said. </div> <div>      Ms. Favors has a strong religious faith that inspires her to achieve her dreams. She has grown to believe that when she's ready to become a famous vocalist that it will happen. She believes that one must be mentally, spiritually and physically prepared to accept the responsibility of stardom. </div> <div>      "I wasn't ready spiritually maybe a year ago," Ms. Favors said. "But I feel like now, I think I'm ready. I think it's my time. I think He thinks it's my time. I feel like before the year's out, I'm probably going to be signed by somebody. And it's probably going to be good cause I'm not going to be signed to no rinky-dink deal." </div> </td> </tr></table></body>