455th Air Expeditionary Wing

Story by Senior Airman Susan Tracy

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - This is the first year of "Operation Rising Star" in Afghanistan according to Army Sgt. 1st Class Marvin Williams, the host and coordinator of the show. Operation Rising Star is a joint American Idol-type singing competition. Much like the original show, contestants sing weekly, receive feedback from a panel of judges and then at the end of the show the audience votes for their favorite singer.

The winner of the competition was Staff Sgt. Kenny Dansby, a supply Airman in the 455th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Support Squadron deployed from MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. The Stockton, Calif., native had impressed the audience from his very first song, "I'll Make Love to You" originally by Boyz II Men in the impromptu concert hall here at Bagram.

When asked how long he has been singing, Dansby laughingly said that according to his mother he was "singing before he could talk." His favorite performance was in 2007 at a South Korean-American Friendship Festival in front of a crowd of more than 2,500, because he felt "it was a blessing to be able to use a natural talent as a representative of the Air Force."

During the course of the singing competition, Dansby showed a wide range of vocal stylings. The week he was the most concerned about was when he had to perform a country song, because his preferred style is R&B. He sang Rascal Flatts' "What Hurts the Most," and while the judges commented that he seemed a little nervous, he made it to the next round.

For the finale each contestant sang a song chosen for them by a judge, and also one that they chose for themselves. His judge, Staff Sgt. Rachael Garneau, an Armed Forces Network radio DJ chose Train's "Drops of Jupiter" for his first song. His rendition had most of the 300 plus audience singing along with him. Garneau complimented his performance, saying that she "couldn't stop smiling the whole time." The song Dansby chose for himself was R. Kelly's "Bump and Grind," where he danced up and down the aisles singing directly to several audience members. He chose that song because he has "performed it many times before, and the crowd always loves it."

When he found out he won, Dansby smiled and shook many hands, commenting that it was exciting as an Airman to win an Army-sponsored competition. He said that throughout the competition, he would "look out into a crowd before I went out and I do see a lot of Army Combat Uniforms, but at the same time I've been making it through and it's kind of cool that the Soldiers are supporting someone that is in the Air Force." Army Spc. Jennifer Lee, who placed fourth in the competition, said "it's no surprise that Kenny won. When he came out singing 'Bump and Grind,' we [the other contestants] knew it was all over. He had it in the bag."

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