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Caridad Mendoza:  Talent and Personality That Shines by Allison Robertson

    Caridad Mendoza is one of this year’s Abilene Idol finalists, whose star will be twinkling brightly in the Paramount Theater on March 21st. You could say of Caridad that she was born to be a musical star.  Her musical journey started before she was born, when her dad, Rene, would play guitar to her while she was still in the womb. He is the one she credits with giving her that musical “spark.” 

    Her fearlessness in song has been with her since she was little. She would ask people at grocery stores if she could sing for them and she would sing to old ladies at church for $1 to buy her favorite drink, Sunny D. She continued singing in church as she grew up. Her parents encouraged her to” get out of her shell” more. When she was 13, they “convinced her to audition”  for Hadestown and got the lead role of Eurydice. “Ever since then, I had more passion to be able to put myself out there, whether it was learning guitar or writing my own music in my room,” Caridad says of the experience. She has been in many musicals since Hadestown. When she was 16, she auditioned for Into the Woods put on by Moonlight Musicals and portrayed Florinda, one of Cinderella’s evil stepsisters. She stayed with Moonlight Musicals for 3 years and got to play a variety of roles from Moana’s mom in Moana to Rafiki in The Lion King. The role of Rafiki helped her become even more fearless. It’s a “crazy role where you are jumping around like a monkey. You have to get out of your comfort zone and be open to embarrassment.” The Moonlight group encouraged members to be “the best within themselves, to try more, but not in an unhealthy way.” 

    During Caridad’s time in musicals, she continued creating music with her dad. When she was 17, they formed the band, Hearts for Christ, with her sister Teresa. They play contemporary Christian music at her church in Lubbock , St. Clare Catholic Church, and also at He-Brews, a Christian coffee shop.

    Caridad also performs with Candles for Christ, a praise and worship young adult group that meets once a month. The group is “like a family” and  does a variety of events from talking about love out of The Bible to doing things for the community such as donating coloring books and crayons to Family Services.

    Caridad recently moved to Abilene to be closer to her future husband, Shawn. She tried out for Abilene Idol because she had been “aching for the stage presence again.” When she found out about Abilene Idol,  she said to herself, “stop being afraid. I just signed up.Whether I fail or not, whether I get in or not, I'm just going to do it. You only live once.” Caridad will be performing “Si Una Vez” by Selena at Abilene Idol. Caridad hopes that by winning Abilene Idol that she would be able to record a Spanish song for her demo at Wonderland Records and that she could use the prize money towards her band and at home recording equipment.  

 

Where to See Caridad

Abilene Meet & Greet at Mulligan’s Sports Bar on March 3rd: 6 to 9pm

Abilene Idol Finale at the Paramount Theater on March 21st: 7pm

 

3 ways to help Caridad win Abilene Idol:

1) Vote as much as you want or sponsor her via this link: https://square.link/u/SwBTAco0

2 )Attend the Abilene Idol Finale at the Paramount and cast your single audience vote for her. 

3) Tell your friends 

Every dollar raised (through pre-votes or sponsorship) counts as one vote ($5=5 votes) and you can cast as many votes as you like

Fundraising for Chorus Abilene is a key component to the Abilene Idol competition. All proceeds from Abilene Idol benefit music programming and tuition for all the choirs and ensembles in Chorus Abilene 

 

 

Hearts for Christ Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61562997454057

 

Moonlight Musicals

https://www.facebook.com/MoonlightMusicals

 

Candles for Christ ‘

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565348672757

 

 

Caridad and Allison (Photo Taken by Caridad)