Photos for Headline Surfer® / Cheyenne Drews with friend, Saraphine Stanier, are big fans of the X-Factor as shone in this photio composite on the beach in New Smyrna done by Drews. Below, they were among the hundre3ds who attewnded the Dec. 19 broadcast of the season finale where Alex and Sierra were crowned the winners.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- In one of the countless talent show competitions, two 22-year-olds stepped out on stage and were to sing, “Toxic,” by Brittney Spears in front of four famous and highly successful judges on the X-Factor, including the reality show's producer, Simon Cowell of American Idol fame.
Cowell braced himself for what he likely envisioned to be a boring college-kids audition and ever since then, he has received nothing but surprises. The couple, Alex Kinsey and Sierra Deaton, impressed Cowell and the judges; moving on week after week, fighting in The X-Factor, eventually gaining Cowell as their mentor.
Although it may not be too exciting to follow yet another journey to fame, it means the world that the journey started here in New Smyrna Beach. Alex Kinsey was originally from our little town of NSB where his mom still works while his dad works in Edgewater.
Although it may not be too exciting to follow yet another journey to fame, it means the world that the journey started here in New Smyrna Beach. Alex Kinsey was originally from our little town of NSB where his mom still works while his dad works in Edgewater.
In fact, he graduated from my very own high school and sat in seats right next to where I currently find myself. He graduated as the Class of 2010, a graduation I watched, right before entering high school myself.
He returned to my school to perform in my court yard and trust me, he could sing. When learning that he and his quirky girlfriend that graduated from Lake Howell High School were to be on X-Factor, I was not nearly as surprised as I should have been, knowing how well-deserved the TV time was.
I didn’t however, predict the continued success they’d receive as well as America’s receptive love towards the two.
I don’t know what the lure was for others, but what I loved about every performance, was that they took a song I already knew, sometimes one I didn’t like, and created this beautifully new and inventive song that they could call their own and I wouldn’t know the difference.
Besides the harmonies from heaven, the love and passion between the two, who would be nothing without each other, captured the hearts of people all around the world.
In a matter of weeks which seemed to fly so fast, Alex and Sierra became a part of the Top 10, then the Final Four and the finals.
I went from a supporter of a local artist to a super fan. After the performance of “Say Something,” I knew I was rooting for winners. Their weekly songs were breaking iTunes records and people were talking about them everywhere I went.
I went from a supporter of a local artist to a super fan. After the performance of “Say Something,” I knew I was rooting for winners. Their weekly songs were breaking iTunes records and people were talking about them everywhere I went.
My friend, Saraphine Stanier and I went to a taping that X-Factor was hosting right off of Flagler Avenue, and although it didn’t make the show, feeling the support our town was creating was well worth it. I was able to see my elementary school art teacher, Mr. Kinsey, who just so happens to be Alex’s dad.
He couldn’t thank me enough for coming out and supporting them. At the taping, I was also honored to meet Sierra’s older sister, Lara, who is as beautiful as Sierra. She told me how humbled her family was by the success and that it’s all been one big dream.
From then on, my friend Saraphine and I supported Alex and Sierra every way possible, always carrying a sign that said, “I’m in love with your love,” something that celebrity judge Demi Lovato said during one of the couple’s first performances.
In no time, we found ourselves at the Daytona Beach Bandshell, watching the finale with hundreds of others, all on the edge of our seats, anxiously awaiting the results.
When Alex and Sierra would come on the screen, the energy was electric. There have been very few times that I’ve experienced a community coming together for one sole purpose, but this was one of them.
I sat with my drama teacher Kendra Blazi, a huge supporter of the couple, who didn’t actually teach Alex, but she did tell me that she had to fight through a crowd of people in her building every morning at the high school, just to get past the crowd that would listen to Alex play the guitar close to her classroom. Also with us, was James Brendlinger, Sierra’s drama teacher from Lake Howell High School.
When the moment came and the winner was announced, the second that, “Alex and Sierra,” left Mario Lopez’s lips, we went wild.
On screen, Alex started to cry as roles were reversed and Sierra became his rock. They sang their famous, “Say Something”, through tears and laughter, as everyone at the Bandshell cried for them.
I’m confident in saying that the "Alex and Sierra" who first auditioned for the X-Factor, will always be the same couple, no matter where their success takes them. They are by far, the most down-to-earth and up-and-coming artists and I know I’ll be a fan for life.
I’m confident in saying that the "Alex and Sierra" who first auditioned for the X-Factor, will always be the same couple, no matter where their success takes them. They are by far, the most down-to-earth and up-and-coming artists and I know I’ll be a fan for life.
I’m ready to buy their albums, scream from the front row of their concerts, and say, “I voted from day 1with the rest of their hometowns.”
I wish nothing but the best for Alex and Sierra and I receive this breath of fresh air with nothing but joy, knowing that the music industry is in desperate need of artists who can produce music without trashy dancers in the background or a computer to edit their vocals.
There isn’t an existing place in the industry for artists like these two, but they’re creating their own. And it’s about time.
Did You Know?
Headline Surfer graphics snapshots / It really isn't much of a contest. The award-winning 24/7 internet newspaper dominates the news directories in Daytona Beach and New Smyrna Beach as shown with the hyper-local coverage of X-Factor winners Alex and Sierra as shown here at left and below.