Document text
--> --> Teens primed for Grammy gala By Mark Norby Ashland Daily Tidings Two star-struck Ashland High School students are on a mission. It's not a religious mission, but it's certainly sacred to them and if they fulfill it they just might make it to temporary sainthood in a church of their peers. "I owe everything to my uncle who's like a professional singer with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, in Salt Lake," explains Chris Jorgensen with honey-dipped humility. "We're trying to raise money to go to the Grammys, in L.A." Jorgensen and his friend Sean Steeves are best friends and classmates at AHS and they're hell-bent for Britney - Spears, that is. "If me and Chris meet Britney Spears, we'll be pimpin' dude. We'll be so pimpin' at school, everybody's like in disbelief that we're gonna make it there," adds Steeves. Jorgensen got the tickets to the Grammy Awards from his uncle Lee Zurlingen who sings with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in Utah. After singing on six consecutive albums with the choir, Zurlingen qualified to sign up with the Grammy Association making him eligible to vote for Grammy nominees and entitling him to four tickets to the annual awards ceremony. This year Zurlingen gave three of the tickets to his sister Lois Jorgensen, Chris' mother. "So like my uncle called my mom up and asked if she'd be interested, he got four tickets in all. She then came down to my room and told me what the scoop was. "At the time Sean was there with me and we were just chillin' and my mom came in the room and told me about the tickets. We both looked at each other and asked what was going to happen to the other two. "She said they are for anyone and that we could have them," Jorgensen said. The trouble was, they didn't have the money to fly to L.A., to rent tuxedos, pay for a hotel, for food, or even for a taxi to L.A.'s prestigious Staples Center where the awards are held every year. Steeves told how the two of them instantly beat the streets knocking on the doors of every business in Ashland, looking for donations. "We're not exactly charity cases," added Steeves. "But the money we raise is totally going to a tight cause." That cause is not just a puerile zeal to rub shoulders with lanky alabaster pop tarts like Spears or J-Lo. They actually plan to use their savoir faire to edify their classmates on the finer points of chasing stars. "We're like using the experience for our Certificate of Initial Master at school. "The CIM is, like, unique - an innovative speech that every student has to do to graduate. It's a totally formal project, super tight, and we're gonna use the Grammys as our topic," Jorgensen said. Jorgensen and Steeves explained a bit about the Grammy Awards, that glitzy gala presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and patronized by every musical super ego this side of funkytown. They told how the awards are considered the most coveted of the many contemporary music awards and - despite the honor the awards carry and the ratings success of the televised awards show - that many industry insiders consider the Grammys to be merely a reflection of mainstream commercial success. "We'll tie this into our CIM and we'll talk about it with our friends at school. We're not just goin' to get Josh Hartnett's autograph for all the girls at AHS," Jorgensen said. "We've only got like another 10 days to raise the money, so we're having a car wash down at Butler Ford on Saturday, February 23." "We just want everyone in Ashland to know, come down and get your car washed for a good cause," Steeves said. "We're super pimped." Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing