Teen wins American Idol Underground

Entertainment

Teen wins American Idol Underground

Dakota Dawn Wade of Newport Beach gets first place in worldwide singer/songwriter competition.

By Yvonne Villarreal

Hours before her performance at Hollywood's Rainbow Room on Friday night, Dakota Dawn Wade planned to stand in front of the bathroom mirror with a hairbrush, practicing various poses as she rehearsed songs. It's become a ritual for the Newport Beach teenager so she can make sure she doesn't make any mistakes on stage.

But singing in front of the club's relatively small crowd wouldn't be the first time she was judged; 15-year-old Dakota won first place last week in the American Idol Underground singer/songwriter competition with her original song, "Mistake: Sampleman 7 Remix."

" 'Mistake' is my favorite song to perform," Dakota said. "It's really fun to do, and the crowd really gets into it. So when the remix for it won, I was very excited." Her winnings included $5,000 and many other prizes.

"It was nice to win, Dakota said. "But the most important thing is that I just want my music out there to help and inspire people."

American Idol Underground is a worldwide competition and Internet radio station, Idolunderground.com, that serves as a musical outlet for emerging artists. Music enthusiasts can upload their work to the site, where it is reviewed by Web listeners and celebrity judges, such as Isaac Hayes and one-time American Idol contestant Kimberly Caldwell. Although Underground is an official licensee of the American Idol brand, it is not directly affiliated with the show.

"Dakota was our highest-rated electronica artist," said Justin Beckett, the site's executive producer. "There were hundreds in the category … it was fairly competitive. Thumbs up to Dakota. She put together a very catchy and powerful track. It's was all in her performance."

But Underground isn't the only website where Dakota's music can be heard; the teen also has a MySpace music page, myspace.com/dakotadawnmusic, where she has more than 850 friends, many of whom have created their own Dakota fan sites.

"MySpace has helped a lot because it allows me to connect with my fans," Dakota said, "I get to share my music with people; it's amazing."

Many comments on the site are from fans eagerly awaiting her upcoming album.

"Hopefully it will be done by Christmas," Dakota said. "We're trying to figure out if we want to release it or shop it around."

The work to become a music star requires Dakota to do homework on her way to dance classes or show performances.

"She works really, really hard," said Ana Montoya-Wade, Dakota's mother. "She started this so long ago that it's nice to see it just kind of gradually work itself out."

Dakota, a fan of Lilly Allen and Christina Aguilera, unofficially began her music career when she was 5 years old, singing a self-penned ode to her mother entitled, "The Mother's Day Song," although she considers writing her first "real" song at age 9 as her true indoctrination.

"I love the whole writing process," Dakota said. "It's fun going into recording studio, brainstorming, and writing lyrics. I hope to do it for a long time."