Talent sought, talent found at Yokota

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman David C. Danford
  • 374th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan --  Every year, Airmen and their families are given the opportunity to participate in one of three Air Force wide talent competitions: "Operation Talent Search," "Mission Audition" and "#VisualUpload," as part of the "Air Force Entertainer of the Year Program."

The program provides an avenue for Team Yokota members to showcase their talents while also developing creative expression and an appreciation for the arts within the base community. From April 15 to May 31, 23 Air Force bases across the globe submitted a total of 89 acts within seven categories.

From Yokota, Kristi McFadden, certified health coach, and her daughter, Jade McFadden, age 12, performed "Say Something" by "A Great Big World" in the parent and youth division. After winning at the Wing level, the McFadden's performance went on to compete at the Air Force level, where they finished in second place.

"We knew we had won at the Wing but we hadn't heard anything after that so we assumed that was as far as it went," Kristi said. "Last week when we heard that we'd placed second overall it was a huge surprise."

The performance highlighted Jade's talent as a pianist while vocals were provided by both performers. The initial push to take part in the talent show came from the young musician and once her parents were sure that she was committed to participating they supported her wholeheartedly.

"Every day as soon as Jade returned from school we practiced together and sometimes we would go to the Youth Center to practice performing with mics and an audience." Kristi said. "We must have put in 20-30 hours of work, minimum, in the weeks leading up to the show."

"Operation Talent Search 2015" was Jade's second large performance and her prior experience in the "Miss Sakura" pageant, an annual beauty pageant and talent show hosted at Yokota,  gave her the confidence to get up on the stage and sing.

"Sure I was nervous, but I mean we were doing this for fun," Jade said. "It didn't matter, win or lose we were going to go out there and have fun because singing is something we enjoy."

Jade, who has been playing the piano for eight years and is learning to play the bass guitar, has expressed an interest in continuing her musical development with original music and starting a YouTube channel where she would perform covers of popular music.