‘American Idol’ star performs at Culpeper benefit

BY CATHERINE AMOS
Media General News Service
Published: November 25, 2008

CULPEPER — Former “American Idol” contestant Chris Sligh performed Saturday night at Culpeper County High School.
The concert, held in the auditorium, benefited Kelsey Kares and Kelsey’s Big Give, two charitable organizations created in memory of Kelsey Orndorff,, a 17-year-old Fredericksburg Christian Academy senior.
Orndorff was killed in a car crash Aug. 29 while on her way to see Sligh perform in Fredericksburg.
Sligh wrote in a September blog entry online about the night of the concert, and the moment he found out a local girl had been killed on her way to his concert. Sligh said that after the show, he heard crying from what sounded like teenage girls. When he went to investigate, he learned what had happened from a teacher.
“My world nearly caved in,“ Sligh wrote. “I cannot imagine what that family and church and school are going through. My heart breaks with every thought for the family.“ 
Sligh, a season six top 10 finalist and Christian recording artist, waived his fee for performing at the benefit. The family, however, insisted that he was at least compensated for his travel for the benefit.
Kelsey Orndorff was a straight A student since the ninth grade, an athlete and an animal lover. Strong in her faith, her father is a local pastor. Orndorff also enjoyed serving on church mission teams, volunteering and writing music lyrics.
Sligh, speaking about his own music and his “American Idol” experience, took a few minutes this week to talk with the Star-Exponent.

CSE: How would you describe the balance of secular and religious influences in your music?

Chris Sligh: I’m not a big fan of genres; they corner people in. I’m in the Christian genre just because I’ve been told I’m in the Christian genre. I don’t feel like that’s my thing. I write about life and my faith is part of that. I’m not the normal Christian artist from what I understand in that sense.

CSE: What was “American Idol” like for you?

Sligh: It was a great experience. I had a lot of fun with just about every aspect of it. You don’t get a lot of sleep, but it was a great experience and obviously opened up doors for me.

CSE: Being in the Top 10, you went on the “American Idol” tour. Do you prefer the big arenas or the intimacy of venues you perform in now?

Sligh: We were staying in five-star hotels and playing in really great venues every night. It was a really fun experience that I’d never experienced before and probably won’t experience again. There’s something to be said when you’ve got 10,000 people singing along. That’s pretty awesome. At this point I’m just building. I think a lot of people come off “American Idol” and expect to sell records just because they were on “American Idol”. I’m trying to build a fan base from the ground up. Little things like hanging out with people after the show; you can’t do that at the big venues. One of the things we try to do every night — as long as people want to hang around, I’ll hang around and talk. We try to really connect with the fans on a very personal level.

CSE: What are your future plans?

Sligh: In the spring I’m doing a headlining tour with a couple of artists. In March I’m going on tour with Natalie Grant. Then I’m going in the studio at that point to record my next record. It’s going to be a busy year.

Staff from the Culpeper Star-Exponent and Stafford County Sun Managing Editor Tracy Bell contributed to this report.