Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Reality television has spawned many singing competitions, with NBC’s The Voice being one of the most successful. Back for a second season, judges Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton and Cee Lo Green have selected another bumper crop of talent to compete on their live shows, where Americans get to vote for their favorite singer(s)!
One of this year’s contestants is Tony Lucca. Tony was on the Mickey Mouse Club with big stars like Christina Aguilera, Brittney Spears and Justin Timberlake. However, Tony hasn’t become a household name yet like the people I just mentioned. That’s not to say Tony isn’t an amazing talent, but there are plenty of talented people who don’t “make it” for one reason or another.
Charles W. Yerger, who taught English in the Spring-Ford School District for 21 years, is our Montgomery County connection. Mr. Yerger, in addition to teaching at Spring-Ford and working with actress Lisa Waltz during his tenure there, was one of the main tutors for the Mickey Mouse Club stars. Charles would impart knowledge and wisdom to the young actors from a trailer on the back lot of the Disney MGM studio. Mr. Yerger worked with these now household names when they were adolescents and played a role in shaping their lives, as teachers often do. Many have stayed in touch with their former teacher. Tony has not only stayed in contact with his former teacher over the years but even invited Mr. & Mrs. Yerger to his wedding.
By all accounts Tony is a genuinely nice guy, a family man and a role model! If you would like to see a video of Tony’s Beautiful Day battle, click here: http://www.nbc.com/the-voice/artists/tony-lucca/video/
I guess most people have heard the theory about six degrees of separation, if not click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_degrees_of_separation. To make the circle even smaller, there is also a Pottstown connection to Tony Lucca (or should I say former Pottstown connection). Charles Yerger’s daughter is well-known to many people in the Pottstown School District. Stephanie Carmody was a member of the President’s Task Force and long time supporter of the Pottstown School District before her recent move to Harleysville. So if you know Stephanie or Charles, you are also connected to Tony Lucca. Way cool!
The Voice airs Mondays at 8pm and Tuesdays at 9pm on NBC. Tune in and check out Tony Lucca! He could use your support!
Roy's Rants - For Your Information 
Roy, THANK YOU!!!!!
How blessed I am to have a friend like you – a talented writer and all around good guy who knows the way to spread the word about the good things. I am writing this after watching Tony’s perfromance several times and now so nervous for him until the results show tomorrow (insert nail biting here).
That said, I thoroughly respect Christina BUT thought she was a bit harsh. Honesty is a beautiful thing and she is certainly a more discerning listener than I am (or will ever be) but I tend to disagree a bit. I don’t think Tony is two-dimensional, I think the opposite. I do think he has much more to give and is flourishing with Adam’s coaching and I am looking forward to his next performance (fingers and toes crossed – ahem, please vote for him!!).
I love Peter Gabriel, myself, and think he did an amazing job working around those trouble spots. He stayed true to himself and his style, though sometimes in order to be truly amazing we do have to step into that trouble spot and solve the problem in a different way than we might want to. It was a good performance and worthy of moving on, IMHO (please cast a vote for Tony Lucca).
I want to see more of him – in fact, I’d love to hear him sing something by Sting (he’s always reminded me of Sting in so many ways – that’s just me). I love to see him play his guitar. There’s such a connection in how multi-dimensional he is when he plays, again just me.
So, now that everyone knows my little secrets – I have a brief degree of separation to Will Smith, too, thanks to a simple exchange in grade school years with my hubby!
That’s all she wrote! THANKS A MILLION for the nice words!!
WOOHOO!!!!
Congrats to Mr. Tony Lucca!!
@Luccadoes on twitter for good vibes and best wishes!!!