Hitting a high note: Allen-born singer reflects on career-defining TV appearance

Monday night had to have been a surreal experience for Arielle O'Keefe. Nearly two years after leaving college to pursue a full-time music career, she was at the Opening Bell, the coffee house where she had performed many times before.

But tonight was different. Surrounded by her friends and family, the 2009 Allen High School graduate was watching a chronicle of the most important five days of her professional life so far unfold on national television.

It wasn't long ago that she was in that same coffee house, surprised by the sudden appearance of cameras and the news that she had five days to prepare for a set opening for Rod Stewart for E!'s new show, "Opening Act."

She had battled a brush with insecurity and survived the stress created by having very little time to prepare and develop new material. Tonight, she would finally be able to see what she had worked so hard for through the audience's eyes -- a demonstrative solo performance and a heartfelt duet performance of "Have I Told You Lately" alongside Stewart.

"It made the performance real for me for the first time, because I never really could fathom it," she said the day after the broadcast. "After it happened, I was just kind of like, 'Well, that happened. Alright, moving on.' But seeing it, I was sitting there, [saying to myself] 'I did that.'"

A songwriter since age 12, O'Keefe was born in Long Island, NY and moved to Allen with her family when she was 15, soon joining the school's choir to further develop her lifelong passion for music.

Allen High School Choir Director Brandon McKinney said the aspiring star was an "overachiever" and "great student" who was an officer of the choir's leadership team in her senior year and became a Texas All-State choir member that same year.

"She was a real talented kid," he said. "She didn't always say a lot, but she was always on top of her game as far as knowing the music and being prepared and kind of thinking outside the box at times, especially when she was singing stuff that she had written."

O'Keefe began performing in Dallas-area coffee houses and cafes before her 16th birthday. After getting an opportunity to appear on stage with esteemed singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson, she was inspired recorded a demo of original songs. While made several trips to Los Angeles in an effort to build a buzz about her music, it was through YouTube that her efforts came to the attention of the show's artist development team, which includes country superstar Martina McBride, Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz and songwriter Jason Derulo.

In addition to the concert, the episode documents O'Keefe's five-day performance "boot camp," where she was assisted in preparing for the show by famed voice coach Nick Cooper and Antonia Armato of the Rock Mafia songwriting and production team. The industry luminaries helped her build confidence and stage presence as well as develop new material for the performance.

"It was definitely an emotional rollercoaster," she said. "There were times when I was so completely overwhelmed because I felt like I went through what a normal artist would go through in several months in several days."

McKinney kept up with O'Keefe in the years after her graduation, following her career and attending several of her shows in the Dallas area. He said he was happy to see her hard work pay off on a national scale.

"I think that's awesome for her and Allen in general," he said. "I think that's a blessing for all of us, when we get to be in that spotlight, on that stage with her on a national level. I thought that was very cool, and I'm very proud of her."

Even before the broadcast, news of O'Keefe's participation in the program cast a new light of public attention on her music. In the two days after E! issued a press release naming her episode as the series premiere, the video for her recent iTunes single "Icarus" garnered 2,000 new views.

The exposure has only seemed to grow since the episode aired, O'Keefe said.

"I've been flooded by all-new followers and people reaching out and writing messages about how I've inspired them and how they were crying their way through the episode," she said. "It's just been an overwhelmingly positive response, which is great."

O'Keefe said she believes the experience has given her a newfound confidence in her career.

"I was able to get up on that stage and do my thing in that kind of extreme situation, so I feel like I can go any stage now and own it and do what I need to do," she said. "I have all the confidence in the world, at this point, to be successful."

Viewers who missed O'Keefe's appearance on "Opening Act" can watch it again on the E! network at 1 p.m. on Thursday, 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. on Friday, and 7 p.m. or 10:30 p.m. on Saturday. To hear O'Keefe's music, visit www.reverbnation.com/listentoarielle or www.youtube.com/user/aokay19.

Current Rating: 0 of 0 votes!

Rate File: Select Rating: * ** *** ****

 Plano Apartments
 Plano Attorneys
 Plano Auto Dealers
 Plano Auto Parts
 Plano Auto Repair
 Plano Beauty Salons
 Plano Car Rental
 Plano Dentists
 Plano Doctors
 Plano Flowers
 Plano Hotels
 Plano Insurance
 Plano Loans
 Plano Mortgages
 Plano Movers
 Plano Pizza
 Plano Realtors
 Plano Restaurants
 Plano Storage
 Plano Tax Preparation
 Plano Travel
 Featured
 More...