cover art Star by Kurama Phoenix & Flowers also cry by Elleonnass

I have been training hard and I’m ready to fight hard.
I have my game plan and I’m going to stick to it.
– Robbie Cannon, Undercard Quote

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From London England, the United Kingdom, 
 Ellie Goulding feat. Angel Haze
with Life Round Here

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Kendall F. Person, thepublicblogger

Greetings Ladies & Gentlemen, Friends & Family, Neighbors & Guests. My name is Kendall F. Person, and I am your host of A Star is Born. Thank you for joining us for the Undercard of this special double header Round VIII: Imitation of Life.

Each participant receives their own votes and their own score card and should be judged on their own merits. But make no mistake, both the Proxy and the Nominee scorecards will be combined for the Official Rank and elimination.

Each Performer – in the Preliminaries – was asked a single Question:

And without further adieu….  The Proxy Performances

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In my search for love and happiness I have come up short many times. Often giving more than what I got in return. The trust I placed on men was boundless until I married a man who would hold me prisoner within my own mind and heart. I became the stereotypical woman in an abusive relationship. I learned to hide the abuse from family and friends and even myself.

I found the mask I wore sufficient to disguise the emotional and psychological abuse. But once the physical abuse began, I realized the love he professed was all part of his need to control. Still somehow, with two young children, I rationalized that we needed to stay together as a family.

Growing up in a nuclear family of eight had its amazing lessons in love. Though being the fifth born out of six siblings came with it’s challenges in feeling secure. A true bond and kinship was born between my brother, Oscar and I at a very early age and continued through our grade school years. Despite the eccentric and androgynous fashions of the mid-eighties, we were still seen as the twin black sheep of the family. An unspoken oath and alliance was forged to ensure against internal or external prejudices.

Throughout my many mistakes in life and love, I knew that Oscar was someone I could turn to in confidence, someone who would not judge, a man I could trust. And time and time again, he proved to be the rock of support that I came to depend on. When a violent bout of physical abuse jeopardized my children’s safety, I phoned him before dialing 911. He took me and my children into his home with open arms.

The indefinite stay under his roof was short lived as I chose to return and try to work things out with my husband, for the sake of love. Oscar’s persuasive words of reason were no match for the shackles on my mind and heart. Perhaps it was in desperation, but I could hear the anger in his tone as he switched into tough-love mode to state, “If you leave now, know that it’s the last time you walk through that threshold.” It took all the courage I had to not wipe away my tears and hold fast to my children’s hands as I led them out the door.

I couldn’t explain it then, and I’m finding it difficult to adequately express now, but I needed to test my own strengths. I wanted to be my own rock. Instead I walked right back into a life on pause eagerly awaiting to start right where it had turbulently left off.

Despite his admonition, my children and I were welcomed back into his home again. I filed for a divorce and with the love and support of my brother, I gradually learned to be the strong, independent woman I am today valuing above all self-love, honor and respect.

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Let’s start from the beginning, shall we? It all started in 1995 when we became womb mates. We passed the time by playing Rockem Sockem at the expense of our mother. We delightfully squished each other for a joyous 9 months until we entered this exciting world looking like aliens and covered in slime. I popped out first, silent but alert… My sister, on the other hand, came out proclaiming her existence and protesting the cold environment of the hospital (just between us, Rebecca has always been the loud one).

Once we were old enough to crawl and babble, we developed our own language and got into all kinds of mischief. We had food fights and became human dusters by wearing ruffled-butt onesies and crawling under beds. We came out looking like the lint trap of a dryer; we were just trying to help mama with the cleaning.

We spent the summers of our younger years running through wheat fields, having mud fights, helping at the Davidson family watermelon stand and bouncing on hay bales. Even though we lived in town, we spent a lot of time on the family farms. There were many baseball games played, many wild adventures and tree climbing down the pasture. During harvest time, we were both all about riding in the combine and having wheat wars in the beds of the wheat trucks. You are a true farm kid if you have buried your sibling in a pile of wheat.

Rebecca and I are on the opposite ends of the spectrum; we are night and day. She definitely takes after the “day” part. She’s the social butterfly and I am the human equivalent of the grumpy cat when it comes to social events. What I lack in enthusiasm about people she makes up for. We don’t even look-alike; people say we’d be an unlikely pairing if we weren’t sisters.

We always had different interest growing up but that didn’t stop us from having fun. I liked being outdoors and she liked playing computer games. She liked photography and I liked painting. We did share one common passion, dancing. It was always a good time to be had on the dance floor when we were together. I was the one that kept the rhythm and she would be the one with the flashy dance moves, we complimented each other with our different dancing styles.

We are two halves that make a whole. Twins have a bond that only other twins can relate to. We started life together. We were born to be partners in crime. It went from mud pie master chefs when we were knee high to a grasshopper to a momma and auntie team (can anyone say the COOLEST babysitter EVER??). She will always be my little sister; she will always be my partner in crime. But most importantly, I will always have her back and she will always have mine.

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The Polls are now Open. Vote for your favorite or for the Best Proxy Performance of the Undercard.

Polls Close for Undercard Voting @ 4:00 PM PST/6:00 CST/7:00 EST

The Main Event Now on Stage
Polls Open.