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Young singer proves talent
by Tina Ray
Paraglide
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photo by David Leathers Sr.
David “DJ” Leathers Jr. sings at a competition. |
David Leathers Sr. said he did not know until this year that his son, David “DJ” Leathers Jr. was a good singer.
“When he was in elementary school, he would sing for talent shows. He was just a kid participating,” Leathers said. “About a year ago is when I found out he wanted to sing seriously.”
Since then, Leathers and his wife, Consandra have enrolled DJ in performance classes at John Robert Powers, a performance arts school in Raleigh, and have chaperoned him to singing venues such as the Fayetteville Press Dinner and a recent drug-free rally.
DJ is scheduled to perform at the National Disability Employment Awareness luncheon Wednesday at the Fort Bragg Officers’ Club.
At 5’4” and a light 109 pounds, DJ belts out Michael Jackson songs in an easy tenor voice. He sings “Never Can Say Goodbye” with a slight smile that indicates he enjoys the delivery. DJ tries to imitate some of Jackson’s moves.
“I love his music; the way he sings,” said the 15 year old about the deceased pop star. “I love the way he dances.”
Jackson, he said, is his inspiration. DJ still speaks of Jackson in the present tense.
But, good grades are a priority for the 10th grader. Leathers said DJ is an A/B student at Seventy-First High School. DJ said he loves science and may study biology when he attends college, but music is never far from his thoughts. DJ sings chorus at school and has written his own songs that he said were about normal teenage stuff – girls.
He takes his music seriously. At a summer competition among singers ages 13 to 24, DJ won first place. He also took third place in the acting category.
“When I think I’m singing real good, I’ll throw in a few extra things that I don’t normally do when I practice just to make people happy,” DJ said. “I just like making other people happy. I get excited.”
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