Natalie Gilbert
"I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever."
-- John 14:16
from...A Little Help at Halfcourt
Posted on 04/02/2004 6:21:42 AM PST by LibFreeUSA
The 14-year-old girl, with blond curls, French-manicured nails and white sneakers, tapped her fingers nervously as she waited yesterday to go on "Daily News Live" on Comcast SportsNet.
"I'm not nervous," Natalie Gilbert assured a reporter with an infectious smile. "I'm excited."
The Lake Oswego, Ore., teen became famous last April after she forgot the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner" before a Portland Trail Blazers playoff game. In front of about 20,000 people.
Gilbert was saved when Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks came over, midsong, to sing the rest of the national anthem with her, encouraging fans and players to belt it out as well.
That moment of sports ver-klempt soon translated into celebrity. "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." Headlines around the country. More singing offers. "Good Morning America." You get the picture.
So 76ers general manager Billy King invited the young soprano to sing the anthem last night, as Cheeks and the Blazers visited the Wachovia Center.
Gilbert and her family - parents Vince and Jennifer, brothers Peter, 16, and Francis, 2 ½ - couldn't pass up the opportunity. They chowed down on cheesesteaks (Geno's); they walked around Independence Mall.
She sang last night in a Jessica McClintock strapless gown. The words flowed from a now-confident singer. She received a warm, enthusiastic reception.
Looking back, she thought her hiccup "was going to be the worst moment of my life."
"It turned out to be the greatest," she told the "Daily News Live" panel.
She says she didn't expect Cheeks to help out, but when he did, "it was amazing." Now she and Cheeks are "tight," she said.
"He's a great guy."
Cheeks, who did not know ahead of time that she was singing, said before the game: "I think it's great for her that she can continue with her career as a singer. [The mishap] could have crushed her career. We don't want her hopes crushed too early."
Afterward, he said: "I was shocked when I heard she was coming to sing the anthem. I'm glad she got through it, because I don't know if I could ever sing that anthem again in front of 20,000 people."
"I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever."
-- John 14:16
from...A Little Help at Halfcourt
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Is this your idea of peace & human kindness? |
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Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be liberals! |
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Agreed! Somehow good things like this don't get reported too much!
We don't want her hopes crushed too early
Better to wait until she has to face Simon on American Idol - then she can have her hopes crushed!
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