With her short dark hair, gospel background and warm laugh, even a short encounter with Denise Jackson elicits comparisons to past "American Idol" champion Fantasia Barrino, both in looks and personality.
But watch out, Miss Fantasia, the Madison teen's powerful vocals are on par, too — and tonight she is bringing her soulful, "Idol"-worthy sounds to the stage of Memorial Union's Great Hall.
After years of watching "Idol" make stars of young women like Barrino and the winner who started it all, Kelly Clarkson, this past September, the LaFollette High School junior set out for Minneapolis to find her own success. Jackson and more than 18,000 other hopeful — and, of course, some hopeless — contestants eagerly anticipated their time to shine in front of Randy, Paula and Simon.
Over the course of four days, Jackson and her family waited for her number to come up as she watched the dreams of others around her being confirmed or crushed with each opening of the audition room door.
"Before I went in, I was nervous because everybody was coming out crying," she said.
However, the teen, who has been singing since age five, hardly revealed any hint of anxiety as she threw off her sunglasses and walked with an extra strut in her step before the judge's table, before belting out a bold rendition of Jennifer Holliday's '80s ballad "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" — a selection off the "Dreamgirls" soundtrack chosen by her brother, she said.
The performance, which earned the high school student a bright yellow ticket to Hollywood, gained the praises of Idol's judges, including the notoriously nasty Simon Cowell, whose compliments Jackson was certainly willing to accept.
"I was happy because Simon, well, he's a tough one," she said with a laugh.
But after becoming one of just a handful of contestants to move on from the Minneapolis audition, was Jackson running out to tell everyone? No, her friends had to wait to see for themselves. She could only tell her immediate family, a task that came fairly easy to the levelheaded teen.
"I didn't really talk a lot to my friends — it didn't really matter," she said. "I mean, I told my grandma, but she's my grandma."
Even when the Minneapolis casting episode aired on Fox, Jackson herself received a surprise, subsequently rendering her unable to watch the episode due to incessant phone calls.
"I didn't even know I was going to be on TV; we were just like, '[The show] is coming on,'" she said. "My grandma was watching, everybody was watching, and all of a sudden I popped up on the screen! I ran out of the room."
Before she and her brothers and sisters head out to Hollywood, where the pool of contestants will be slimmed down to just 32 men and women, Jackson said she feels prepared for the challenges ahead and has other projects in the works, as well. The teen, who takes cues from some of her personal favorites like Tina Turner, Lauryn Hill and Beyoncé Knowles, is working on a CD that is due out near the end of February.
She's also looking forward to performing for the UW crowd tonight. Although the Great Hall concert marks her biggest Memorial Union show to date, she's keeping an upbeat attitude and not falling prey to nerves.
"You gotta practice and set up and everything," she said, "But really, you just gotta go out there and have a ball."
She keeps the same mindset regarding her "Idol" fate. Whether her Hollywood journey yields a positive or negative ending, the humble vocalist is willing to take the events in stride.
"I'm happy; I'm thankful," Jackson said of the experience thus far. "God blessed me, so I've got to be happy."
Denise Jackson will perform at Memorial Union's Great Hall tonight. The show starts at 7 p.m. and admission is free, but limited to UW-Madison students, faculty, staff, Union members and guests. IDs will be checked at the door. For more information about Denise Jackson, visit her website at www.denisejacksonmadison.com.
