Amanda's powerful pipes and the way she performed her song ''Orange Colored Sky,'' recorded by Nat King Cole in 1945 clearly wowed the audience of about 200. ''She had it all the costume, the vocals, and the confidence,'' said event director Linda Norris. ''To hear someone sing like that, at her age, that's a gift.
'' Amanda's winning performance had an unintended dramatic arc. As she began to sing the song's final high-pitched refrain, feedback from her microphone gave off several loud squeals, making the crowd jump. Undaunted, Amanda finished and left the stage, hiding what she really felt.
''I started to cry,'' she said afterward. ''It was embarrassing. I'm glad I got to do it again.
'' After Amanda left the stage the event's five judges, all of them involved in the entertainment business in the Lehigh Valley, asked that she be allowed to perform again. Amanda took the stage a second time and gave an unblemished performance. The singer, who said her dream job would be to sing in ''Grease'' on Broadway, displayed an ability whose origin is a mystery to her family.
''We're terrible singers ,'' said Amanda's mother Jennifer Freudemthal, a hairdresser. ''The first time we knew she could sing was after the very first season of 'American Idol.' She was singing Kelly Clarkson's song 'Moment Like This.
''' Amanda's success is all the more remarkable in that she's had a total of eight vocal lessons in her life, her family said. She had only started taking them regularly this month. But only a talent like Amanda's could have outdone the competition.
All the performers had already been through two levels of judging just to make it to the final round, event producer Gary James said. And prior experience didn't make all the pre-performance jitters go away, said competitor Kim Bydlon, 13, of Whitehall. ''I was shaking and nervous the whole time,'' she said.
''But once I got onstage it all went away.'' Kim sang ''Last Dance,'' a song made famous by Donna Summer. At one point she left the stage and, still singing, walked into the crowd.
The move went over well with the audience, but Kim said it was spontaneous. ''I like to work the judges, but the audience is who I'm trying to impress,'' she said. ''It proved she had a strong voice for such a young age,'' Kim said.
''She can really belt it out.'' Kim and Amanda, like all 12 finalists, took home scholarships for classes from Singstrong, a school for young performers run by Norris and James. Norris and James, who are married, began the Lehigh Valley Idol competition in 2005 as an outgrowth of a talent show they had put on at a local school for years, and Singstrong developed to fill a need for guidance they saw in many young performers and their families.
Norris and James used to perform adult contemporary music as Norris James, and said they've seen how less-than-scrupulous companies and agents prey on the inexperienced in the entertainment business. They do not represent any of the children who participate in Singstrong, but instead train the performers and their parents how to navigate the entertainment industry and develop their skills. ''We often say it's about the journey, not the overnight success,'' Norris said.
''You can't manage yourself unless you know what you're doing. If you don't know what you're doing, you'll get eaten alive.'' But a taste of showbiz glamor will be part of Amanda's prize.
Norris said Amanda will get a free makeover at T.C. Technicolor salon in Bethlehem.
She also will get a limo ride into New York, where she will have a free recording session to make a demo tape. It's not Broadway. But give her time.
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