Gospel Dream 2005 Dallas Auditions Underway
Saturday, Aug. 20, 2005
Posted: 5:42:24PM EST

The drive is an hour long from Anna to Dallas, Texas, and Worship Pastor Eliezer Da Silva had to be at the Irving Arts Center by 9 a.m. But there are other reasons why the 37-year-old music minister is got up at 5 o'clock on Friday morning.

"The morning time is a difficult time for me to sing because I’m a baritone,” says Da Silva. “My voice is down to the gutter in the morning, and until about 2 o’ clock in the afternoon I’m singing double bass. So I got up early to give my voice a chance to warm up.”

And while singing is a regular routine for Da Silva at First Baptist Church in Red Oak, Texas, the native Brazilian was “warming up the pipes” yesterday morning for a very special (and very short) performance – his audition for the Gospel Dream 2005 talent competition.

The nationwide talent search, which began auditions yesterday in Atlanta, will select 21 contestants from seven regional auditions in Atlanta (Aug. 12-13), Dallas (Aug. 19-20), New Orleans (Aug. 26-27), St. Louis (Sept. 9-10), Chicago (Sept. 16-17), Detroit (Sept. 23-24), and Memphis (Sept. 30–Oct. 1) to compete in the national finals in Atlanta, which will air on the Gospel Music Channel on Nov. 30 (semi-finals) and Dec. 1 (finale).

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