Hey folks. Back again with another guest blog from one of our Sunday Best Top 20. Today, Cekoya Burch gives her take on the show. I’m starting to think I talk too much when I do these, so I’m going to go ahead and just pass her the mic!
*Passes mic to Cekoya*
Hey hey to all my virtual friends. Cekoya Burch here. I wanna take just a brief moment of your time to have you guys journey with me as I tell y’all about my likes and dislikes of my Sunday Best experience. There’s gonna be good news, bad news, gossip and me pouring out my heart, so Feel free , love it, dislike it and all. Feel free.
It started on that one Sunday that my mom called me downstairs and said “Cekoya, you know Sunday Best is having auditions”. I must have told her no a thousand times, until that 1,000th and 1 time I finally said yes, with my friend Lila Richardson’s help. Hey LiLa (thanks girl).
At the audition, I was terrified guys. All of these wonderful amazing singers were singing around me, hitting high notes, low notes, side notes, shout notes, holler notes and all of that. I’m looking around like, “Why am I here?” But I stayed anyway. And I made it through the 1st round. “Wow!!!,” I thought. Then I made it through the 2nd round. “What?” I thought. Then they congratulated me and told me that I made it to Bebe, Erica and Tina. Amazing!!!!!
The Bible does say that your gifts will make room for you and put you before great men.
So now I’m in front of these amazing judges and they’re smiling at me and I’m smiling at them, and finally I sing. They cut me off and Bebe smiles and just admits how much he likes my spirit and presence and the Mary’s agree. I enjoyed that experience. It wasn’t my voice, my looks, or anything like that, but simply the favor of God and His spirit inside of me that connected with them. I learned a huge lesson, that we may think that God is using us through one way or one gifting and it’s the total opposite.
So I wait for my final confirmation that I made it, and I finally receive it from the fab Tamara Gregory. (inspiration to us all)
Time to meet the contestants:
Gossip time:
Now, I’ve sang with India.Arie, acted with Cicely Tyson, Blair Underwood, worked with Queen Latifah, Mario Van Peeples, stood before Gladys Knight, but was terrified to meet this group of 19 other contestants. But when i arrived, with my husband, Branden, I was greeted with this HUGE hello from my college friend Ian Knighton. Wonderful, wonderful vocalist. It was followed by a “HEY” from the wonderful, talented John Jon. And topped off with a big smile from powerhouse Maurice Griffin. The lifetime of friendship began then and there and I could breathe again. But here’s the dirt on them all. They are all horribly…………FABULOUS people with incredible talents and giftings.
I enjoyed Jessica Reedy’s openess and sincerity. Y’Anna was a wonderful friend with a great testimony. I enjoyed praying with them both. Hey ladies!!!! Latice was very quiet and to herself, kinda like me, but our friendship grew after my elimination. Wonderful woman. John McClure, one word: SILLY. Camille and Tammy are both wonderful women, they taught me a lot. Pete, my dear sweet Pete. I can’t wait to see where God takes him. The mothers were inspirations to us all. Carolyn and Ms. Audrey both taught us to fight for our dreams and never give up on it. Dontavies was kind and gentle as well as loud and silly, if that’s possible. We had a blast running around Target finding our fellow contestants and calling them over intercoms. (I told you this was family y’al) Then there came Zebulon, the life of sunday best. A wonderful heart and great singer.
We all introduced ourselves and I could not overlook this one girl, who inspired me and has changed my life more than she knows. It was Sharon Gomez. Out of all of the contestants, I couldn’t see a more real display of true devotion to Christ. She didn’t care what people thought or said or how they looked at her when she would turn away and pray or talk to God. Or how she would break out in worship or a prayer. She didn’t care. And she taught me, along with my Pastor, Bishop Flynn Johnson, that true worship and dedication to Christ makes the difference.
And that is what I took from my entire Sunday Best experience. Learn and embrace true worship. All of this will one day pass, but what will last forever are my works for Christ. In my effort to please the crowd and judges, I almost forgot to go beyond the camera lens and touch the hearts and lives of the people who didn’t need to hear runs and riffs, but needed something more lasting and significant in their lives.
My experience was absolutely wonderful and this has opened doors to so many other things. I’m working on my album right now. You can find some of my music at www.myspace.com/cekoya or you can youtube me (Cekoya Burch) to see an entirely different side and sound of Cekoya. I’d love to hear your feed back.
I hope that you guys enjoyed this journey with me and learned as much as I learned. Enjoy your lives and stay encouraged.
*Takes mic from Cekoya*
Wow, I learned a lot about Cekoya! Who knew she had done so much in her career already. Cicely Tyson???? I’m impressed. Thanks again to Cekoya for taking her time out to talk to us. Tomorrow you’ll get to hear from Camille Betton, so make sure to come back.
For now, I’m out!
Torrence