Lorre’al Triplett, sophomore, won second place and $5,000 in K.C. Superstar, a vocal competition for high schoolers in the Kansas City area, on Aug. 23.

Auditions began in March, where they sang a short part of a song in front of a few judges. Around 300 students auditioned; 24 of those students proceeded to the semifinals, and 10 were in the finals.

Until the semifinals, Triplett trained and taught herself. Once she got into the semifinals, she met with vocal coaches to rehearse.

After the semifinals, Triplett said that the workload picked up. They had rehearsals on Friday and Saturdays, when they worked on vocals and choreography.

Triplett explained “the surreal part of the process was what has happened after K.C. Superstar.”

Kelly Urich from 99.7 talked to her about getting a record deal, and Teresa Maxwell of Mix 93.3 said she was going to be a star.

A part of the process that helped her grow was having to cover songs. Before K.C. Superstar, she only sang songs she had written.

Triplett’s favorite part of the process was “spending time with the people.”