FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas (Dec. 7, 2015) -- A former singer in the Air Force Band and military mother of four was named winner of the 2015 Operation Rising Star singing contest Dec. 4 at the Fort Sam Houston Theatre.
Chelsea Tabisz, an Air Force spouse from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, expressed her love for her husband, three daughters and one son throughout the four shows filmed for internet broadcast.
For her opening number -- Christina Aguilera's version of the Etta James classic "Something's Got a Hold on Me" -- Tabisz paid tribute to her husband.
"That absolutely is personal in that it's all about my husband: something's got a hold on me and it must be love," said Tabisz, 31. "Even 10 years into our marriage, that is still true. I wanted to just really hit the audience in the face a little bit. It's a big song. It's powerful. It's upbeat and really fun, and I wanted to start off that way."
Tabisz thought she nailed the performance.
"I felt really good about it, honestly," she said. "It was the first moment for me as a performer where I didn't feel like I needed to hide behind a shell of trying to maintain a level of professionalism with what I'm doing. I just was able to let go and really have a good time and enjoy it and move and feel very free."
The reactions of the audience and judges let Tabisz know she was headed in the right direction.
"It was a really groundbreaking moment for me," she said.
In the second show, Tabisz sang Martina McBride's "In My Daughter's Eyes."
"It was just all about my kids," she said. "I have three daughters and one son. Knowing that they were going to watch that the next day, made it so easy for me to pour my heart and soul into the song. It really is easy to see why I chose that one."
The shows were recorded live before television-studio-style audiences in San Antonio and webcast the following day. With thoughts of Sarai, 9, Adeyna, 7, Kyla, 6, and Barrett, 3, on her mind, Tabisz was overcome by emotion as she left the stage.
"I walked off stage and cried so hard," she said. "I walked into the hall and absolutely bawled my eyes out. It wasn't because of anything the judges said or anything that happened on stage. It was purely because I could feel my daughters listening and being impacted by that."
In the third show, Sara Bareilles' "Gravity" propelled Tabisz into the final six. Part of the song's lyrics, "something always brings me back to you," represented Tabisz' journey away from family to perform for troops during Operation Rising Star finals week.
"I chose that honestly just because it sounded beautiful and there's an element to it that applies to my life," Tabisz said. "With "In My Daughter's Eyes" you feel like that's the deepest that I could get, and then all of a sudden this gravity comes and it [reveals] an even deeper part of my soul. I wanted to show there's still more."
As the last of six finalists named for the final show, Tabisz was relieved to know she would have another opportunity to sing.
"I kept hearing "family member" -- and then it wasn't me," she said in reference to military family members Isabelle Robin and Melinda Way-Bonner, who finished runner-up and in third place, respectively. "Twice I had to sit through a family member [being announced among the top six] and I was just dying inside. That was sweet, sweet torture. I was thrilled because I had already let go of the idea being in the top six."
Tabisz dedicated Jennifer Hudson's Dreamgirls version of "I Love You I Do" to her Air Force husband of 10 years.
"I did that for my husband," she said. "I just wanted to have fun and show him that 10 years in, still got it."
In the final show, Tabisz performed Mariah Carey's "Vision of Love."
"Just because it's a beast and Mariah is a beast," Tabisz said. "I wanted to do something that is just a powerhouse."
Tabisz qualified to compete in the finals through a local Operation Rising Star event after winning a similar Air Force contest at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.
"While we were [at the Air Force competition] they brought up Operation Rising Star," explained Tabisz, 31. "They said: 'If you're here, you should consider doing this.' So I looked into it and thought: 'Why not? It's another chance to sing.'"
Tabisz, however, had no idea what awaited her in San Antonio.
"I have been so immersed in raising kids that I really don't hear that much about anything outside of diapers, potty training and pre-school," she said. "Thankfully, my husband's great, because I said 'I've got to do this; we're going to make it work,' and he said: 'OK.'
"I wasn't kidding on stage when I said that every day something happened that made me feel like 'if this was all I got to do while I was here, I would walk away so happy.' Every single day that happened. And every day it just kept getting better and better and better."
Tabisz said it started with Operation Rising Star music director Joey Beebe, who "showed me how to step outside of the artist that you are performing."
"He really showed how to make it something that's just mine in ways that I just would never would thought of," she explained. "It was so quick and easy for him to just say: 'Well, think about this. What does this one word mean to you? Now do it the way that you feel it.' It was honestly something I had never thought about. He took me so outside the box of my own head that I was like mind-blown. It was just amazing. So he started the whole thing off for me on just a really, really fantastic note."
Better yet, she said, was the opportunity of getting to work with talented vocal coaches, including Operation Rising Star judges Debra Byrd, head vocal coach for "The Voice," and country recording artist Michael Peterson.
Tabisz took every advantage of the "really outstanding people here who could help shape my voice and shape me as a person."
"Each moment has been really, really life-changing, and has shaped my voice in a way that I will never forget or lose. No matter where I end up going with all of this, the coaching that I got and the support that I got these last two weeks is something I'll take with me for the rest of my life."
She also reunited with a high school friend who is stationed at Joint Base San Antonio and attended all four shows.
"Not once did I ever think it was going to go all the way to the end," said Tabisz, an Air Force brat from Longmont, Colorado, who attended high school in O'Fallon, Illinois. Her mother is a professional classically-trained vocalist and her father is a professional conductor.
"That's where I learned about being on stage at a very young age, even though I wasn't really 'on stage,'" Tabisz said. "I would listen to my mom from the top of the stairs when she gave voice lessons. That's it."
Tabisz joined the Air Force at 18, turned 19 during basic training, and sang three years for the Air Force Band. She got married at 20, had her first child, and became a stay-at-home mom.
For winning Operation Rising Star, Tabisz will receive $1,500 and an all-expenses paid trip to San Antonio for the professional recording experience of cutting a three-song demo CD in the Army Entertainment studio.
"I have not processed that yet," she said. "I am so excited. I really am because I love singing so much. It is such a deep, meaningful part of my heart that this means I get to sing more."
Tabisz said she "would be honored" to serve as an ambassador for Army Entertainment. "At the end of the day, we're all in the military service together," she said.
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SIDEBAR:
Operation Rising Star is an Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation program produced as online content by the Installation Management Command's Army Entertainment division.
Based on the concepts of television shows "American Idol" and "The Voice," 12 singers from around the world are selected via online and live performances and invited to compete in front of studio and internet audiences for the title of "2015 Rising Star."
Internet viewers, whose votes counted 50 percent in the outcome, voted 141,096 times for their favorite performers at www.OpRisingStar.com, which experienced a 97 percent increase in viewership over the 2014 performances.
Army Family member Isabelle Robin of U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwoehr, Germany, finished runner-up to Chelsea Tabisz.
Army Family member Melinda Way-Bonner of Fort Hunter Liggett, California, finished third in the competition.
Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Steven Powell of Naval Recruiting Station Pleasant Hill, Calif.; Sgt. Robert Gulley of U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany; and Spc. Chyanna Dresden of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, completed the top six.
The contest is part of Army Entertainment's mission to provide "entertainment for the Soldier, by the Soldier," promote resiliency, support the "soldier for life" concept, and provide quality of life programming for the Army Family.
To view the web broadcasts, or for more information about this and other MWR programs and activities, visit www.OpRisingStar.com
Related Links:
U.S. Army Installation Management Command
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