Roseville (MN) Student Wins CHIC Competition
KNOXVILLE, TN (July 24) - Julia "Juice" Peterson had played her guitar and sang at several coffee houses, but the 17-year-old winner of the CHIC 2006 Battle of the Bands competition seemed the veteran professional last Thursday evening when she performed before a crowd of some 5,000 other teenagers and adults packing the Thompson-Boling Arena. They responded with a standing ovation."It was awesome," said Peterson, still shaking after her performance. "It was so much fun being up there."
Peterson performed Love Song, an original composition that she
wrote at age 15. To see the lyrics, please visit Love Song.
The music relates the struggle of being a fallen person desiring to live for God:
I am a woman, I am a girl,
But I won't fall into the trappings of this world,
I am smart, I have beauty,
But I ate that apple, and now it is eating at me.
Worship leader Matt Lundgren had been so impressed with her performance during the contest that he surprised Peterson, asking her to join the CHIC Band on several songs Thursday night. "She was incredible," he said after her Main Stage performance.
"That was a shocker," said Peterson, who attends Roseville Covenant Church in Roseville, Minnesota. "It was such a privilege."
Peterson said she initially had been scared before going on stage, but listening to the band Salvador perform helped her prepare. "I just started having fun and settled down," she said.
The Roseville youth group had prayed for Peterson, who one youth leader described as "a really great kid." She also was thankful for the prayers she received shortly before the worship service.
"The prayer team came in (the green room) and prayed for the worship team, and that was really awesome," she said.
Peterson earned the opportunity to perform on Main Stage when students voted her the best of their peers after hearing a number of individuals perform on an outside stage the day before.