Rabadi rocks the Garden



GUILDERLAND — Alexis Rabadi filled a packed Madison Square Garden with song last month.
The 13-year-old Guilderland native sang "Colors of the Wind" to clinch first place in a kids’ talent contest that drew hundreds of contestants. She competed in the final three during a New York Knicks basketball game.
"Just about every hair on my body stood up," said Shaw Rabadi, bursting with pride, as he recalled his daughter’s New York City debut. He owns the Greek restaurant on Western Avenue, BFS.
"It was more exciting than nerve-racking for me," Alexis Rabadi said of her first audition in the city and the contest that followed. Rabadi is a veteran of local theater, having played starring roles in Farnsworth Middle School productions and at the Washington Park Playhouse. She’d like to have a career in show business.
So far, her favorite role has been Kim McAfee in "Bye Bye, Birdie," the teenage fan of a rock idol. Rabadi can identify with McAfee’s character, she said, adding, "My Conrad Birdie is Johnny Depp."
As for the song she chose from Disney’s Pocahontas, Rabadi said, "It applies to what’s going on in the world now," referring to global warming and related environmental issues. Initially, she had chosen to sing the Titanic theme song, but one of the two other contestants she was competing against in the finals had also chosen that song. The winner was determined by the crowd of roughly 20,000, Mr. Rabadi said.

When her mother discovered the contest advertised in the back of a magazine, the two of them went downstate for the auditions, Rabadi said.
"Her mom loves to sing, you know, in the car," Mr. Rabadi said of where his daughter might have picked up her talent.
"I’ve just been singing for as long as I can remember, just in the back seat of the car," Alexis Rabadi said.