Lawson Academy of the Arts Student Wins Recording Contract

This article is reprinted with permission from the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, written by Dan Armonaitis

For the past three months, Logen Hall has carried a secret.

The 16-year-old Roebuck resident and Dorman High School student won a national singing and acting competition in October, but she wasn’t allowed to let anyone know about it until now.

The final episode of the reality Web series “Talent: The Casting Call” was posted at www.thetalentshow.com on Thursday, revealing Hall as the winner.

By winning the “American Idol”-style competition which was filmed in Los Angeles, Hall earned a recording contract with Jive Records and a starring role in “Talent,” an upcoming dramatic Web series created and produced by Alloy Entertainment.

“I’m so happy that everyone can now share the experience with me,” Hall said. “It was so hard not being able to tell anyone that I had a record deal with Jive Records. This is the biggest thing that has ever happened to me.”

Hall will return to Los Angeles in February to begin filming “Talent,” and episodes of the teen-oriented Web series are scheduled to debut in the spring.

“The plot will be about a girl going out and trying to make it in the big world of Hollywood,” Hall said. “So, it’s something that I can relate to.”

Hall said she is thrilled to be associated with Alloy Entertainment, which produces such popular television shows as “Gossip Girl” and “Pretty Little Liars.”

“I’m crossing my fingers that maybe one day, I can guest star on one of those two shows,” Hall said. “Those are my favorite TV shows, so the fact that I’m under contract with the same company is insane. It blows my mind.”

In the final episode of “Talent: The Casting Call,” which started out with six contestants chosen from thousands of nationwide entries, Hall and runner-up Anna Metheny — a 17-year-old from Englewood, Fla. — were each asked to sing a new original tune called “On My Way.”

The song, which will be featured in the scripted series, “Talent,” featured lyrics about a girl leaving home for the first time to pursue her dreams.

“It was so cool to be able to sing an original song that no one has heard and no one knows,” Hall said. “It was like having a blank canvas where you could do whatever you wanted to make it special.”

Hall — who began taking vocal lessons at Converse College’s Lawson Academy of the Arts when she was 5 — got her first national exposure four years ago when she sang on CBS’ “The Early Show.” She has performed in several Spartanburg Little Theatre productions, is a singer at Philadelphia Baptist Church in Pauline and is a lieutenant with the Blue Belles, Dorman’s dance team.

“Logen has put so many hours into making this happen,” said her mother, Kelly Hall. “She has been involved in the arts here in Spartanburg her whole life. … For years and years, she would go to school all day, then go straight to dance classes and then over to the theater. This is no overnight success story for her.”