The gifts turned out to be t-shirts from the various artists in tonight’s show. My three favorites were, third, Birthrite gathered around Santa in their elf costumes. If you were going to make a fool of yourself, own it. The second was of Halle from
Probably my favorite was of me. Someone had dug through my modeling pictures and found one where I was in a tuxedo. It’d been taken when I was in Chicago, and Adrienne had worn a wedding dress that caused a few too many emotions to erupt. The tag line above the picture said: ‘Bond, Ian Bond.’ Under it was a quote from
It was a riot to watch the young kids rip off their shirts and put their gifts on. I was glad to see that there were screened-off areas for the older ones and parents to change if they wished. They were given bags adorned with pictures of the cast from tonight’s show to hold their discarded garments. Now I wanted both a t-shirt and a bag.
◊◊◊
When Rita pitched the show, she’d explained it was like a variety show they’d used to have on TV in years past. I finally broke down and did an Internet search to see what she was talking about. The closest things I could find recently were the reality singing and talent shows. What those shows were missing were the little comedy skits we would have.
I stood off in the wings as the show started.
“Please welcome your host, Rita James,” was announced over the sound system.
Rita made her grand entrance to the applause of the studio audience. I was a little appalled to see the flashing signs that directed the audience when to clap or laugh. For Rita James, America’s Sweetheart, they didn’t have to be told. She was dressed in a festive evening gown that showed why she was still so sought after to do movies. There were a handful of actresses who seemed to get better with age, and Rita was leading the pack, in my opinion.
“Whoa, good evening,” she said, to allow the applause to die down. “Hello, everyone, and welcome to a very special Christmas show. Our guests tonight are the airmen and their families from the Air Force’s Space Command located here in Los Angeles.”
The cameras were turned toward the audience so they could be shown.
“I want to reach out to all our troops and everyone who has served and thank them for keeping us safe.”
There was another round of applause.
“I’m honored to share with you tonight some up-and-coming young talent in both movies and the music industry.”
I tuned her out as someone shoved a microphone into my hand. Halle came up beside me and smiled.
“You ready for this?” she asked.
“I only hope you can carry us.”
“You’ll be fine. Just act like you can sing,” Halle teased.
“It’s on, Princess,” I shot back.
“… my daughter and the star of the upcoming movie
“That’s our cue,” Halle said as she reached down and grabbed my hand.
I think she was afraid I might back out. Best to take her advice and ‘act’ like I could sing.
I’m sure people think I’m weird because I get up in front of people without hesitating. It’s not that I’m not nervous doing it; I am. It’s just that if I plan to get what I want, I have to be comfortable talking to crowds. As if it wasn’t enough to know I was in front of a live audience, with the lights glaring in my eyes, there were millions more watching this broadcast. And I was about to sing.
There was a good saying that fit this situation: ‘Fake it until you make it.’
What helped was Halle sang the first part of the song. She really did have the voice of an angel. Halle was one of those talented people who could do it all.
While she sang, they showed background pictures that related to the lyrics. They’d pulled some from the two movies we’d been in. When they showed one of me as Stryker, the younger ones in the audience reacted, causing Halle to glance back to see what was going on. She almost lost her place but recovered nicely and smiled at me.
Finally, it was my turn. My deep baritone belted out, and I relaxed. I looked Halle in the eyes as I sang my part. Then it was time for me to sing higher; I hoped for the best. I never worried about my lower register; it was when I tried the higher notes that it did funny things. I focused on what Jett had taught me and found I was singing the notes without my voice breaking or straining. I think Halle was more surprised than I was when it sounded ‘a bit of alright.’ Damn!
I would never make a living doing this, but I hadn’t embarrassed myself to this point.
