There are some unspoken rules in the music world. The Rules say performers are supposed to be heard and seen - and that means an entertainer has to look good, according to whatever standard the media chooses to impose on the masses. The Rules say real-size girls make great background vocalists, but shouldn't take center stage. The Rules insist the package is more important than the gift.
Critically acclaimed CCM artist Katie Giguere once believed that the rules would keep her out of the game. Born into an entertainment-industry family (Katie's father was a producer for Z Music Television and CMT), Katie was never far from the limelight, yet never in it. Self-conscious because she didn't fit the mold of the MTV female superstar, Katie spent hours singing in her room, but never for an audience…until she met Bonita Mitchell.
"Bonita heard me sing," Katie confides, "and she believed in me. She loved my voice, but more than that - she loved my spirit. That made all the difference."
Mitchell wasted no time hustling Katie onto a plane to LA. She immediately booked Katie into a studio to cut an amazing vocal demo - a demo that soon found its way into the hands of legendary superstar, Stevie Wonder.
The perennially shy Katie was stunned when Wonder told her, "With a voice like that, there is no need for you to be shy."
Buoyed by Stevie Wonder's encouragement, Katie hit the road for a series of benefit concerts. Working with the likes of Gospel music great CeCe Winans and Hollywood stars Tia and Tamara Mowry, Katie honed her performance skills before enthusiastic audiences across the country. She signed on as the featured soloist for Bonita Mitchell's Thread of Hope, a program that encouraged high schoolers with its much needed message of self esteem. It was a message that Katie readily relates to.
"We take so many of our cues from the media," Katie sighs. "Most of the successful women that you see on TV are flawless. They are thin, and they have perfect hair and great skin. You don't see women who look real. Some girls are naturally a size zero, and that's great. But a lot of us are naturally real sized. God doesn't care what we look like. He loves us, and if He sees us as beautiful it is because our heart is right."
Katie released her highly praised debut CD "Brinin' Me Hope" in 2004 praying that God would bless her ministry because, though terrified, she was stepping out in faith and acting in His will. She could not have imagined how dramatically God would change her life from that point forward.
Now a critically acclaimed, chart-topping vocalist, author of a book, "Being the Fat Girl", a newly signed EMI songwriter, and recently married to her best friend, Scott Cloyd, Katie Giguere does not have to wonder whether God meant for her to embark on this career. She is also quick to give God all the credit, all the glory for the things He has done in her life.
"I always say to people at the end of a concert, that my point is not to tell you all the wonderful things happening in my life, so you can applaud my success. My point is that all if this, all of our lives, are in the hands of our Creator. I know that if you trust God, be obedient and walk in your true calling, no matter how unprepared you feel you may be, He will be there with you, and you can make an impact for His Kingdom. I am living proof of that."
Katie's sophomore CD, "I Lift Up My Eyes" hits stores in October 2007. A few highlights include the title track co-written with Kevin Stokes, the top 25 self-penned hit "Just By Your Mercy", the worshipful power ballad, "The Lion" featuring the Born Again Choir, a duet with Katie's mom, Jeanne of the classic "Wonderful, Merciful, Savior" and a cover of Martina McBride's "Anyway" which was her highest chart-climber to date!
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