North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Singing family win big at global competition
Singing is in the blood for Paula Daysh and her daughters Maddie and Jaime Ham.
The three have recently returned from the United States after singing their hearts out at an international competition.
Daysh, Maddie, 13, and Jaime, 12, who live in Greenhithe, competed at the World Championships of Performing Arts in California, walking away with a haul of silver and bronze medals.
‘‘We had so much metal in our luggage we got searched at customs,’’ Daysh says.
The World Championships of Performing Arts involves performers from more than 50 countries in singing, acting, dancing, modelling and instrumental competitions.
Held over two weeks in July, Daysh and the girls were part of a team of 25 New Zealanders at the competition.
They spent the first few days sightseeing and in boot camp preparations before the competition kicked off.
It took months of singing practice for them to get ready for the event, where they competed as individuals and in the group category, performing as a trio called Saint.
Saint picked up silver and bronze medals for all four of its performances, Jaime received two bronze and a silver medal and Daysh took home a silver medal.
‘‘We can’t have done that bad, we got a medal for every group song,’’ Daysh says.
Maddie and Jaime both loved performing at the event, especially when it came to their individual songs.
‘‘I was owning the stage and having fun and it didn’t matter what the judges thought,’’ Maddie says.
‘‘This is the experience of a lifetime, it’s amazing.’’
‘‘I do get nervous before I sing but once I get up there and get into it I don’t care,’’ Jaime says.
The group performed songs from different genres, including rock, country and pop, with about 17 different costumes full of feathers, leather and sequins for each.
‘‘When we were preparing I was thinking ‘this is too hard, it’s not worth it’,’’ Daysh says. ‘‘Every ounce of blood, sweat and tears was worth it.’’
The trio are now looking ahead for their singing careers they were approached with recording opportunities while at the competition which Daysh says they plan to follow up.