12-year-old Mackenzie Morgan will be competing against other children in a talent contest on
the Maury Povich show at 4 p.m. March 3 on the Fox Network. After the show, the public will be
invited to go online to vote for their favorite. Vote for Mackenzie at www.mauryshow.com.
Mackenzie Morgan has been home-schooled since the third grade and spends five hours a day
studying.
 

________________________________________________________________________________

Published: February 27, 2009 10:12 am

                    
                A Rising Star               


Corbin-native to compete on Maury Show March 3


By Bobbie Poynter / Community Editor

Mackenzie Morgan sang nearly every weekend standing out in front of her church congregation
at Oak Grove Baptist Church. When her beloved grandpa (Paul Rush of Corbin) passed away in
2004, Mackenzie poured out her heart to him in a way she knew he would hear.

She sang to him at his funeral.

“Grandpa loved for me to sing,” said Mackenzie. “I was really too young then to know how
tough it was, so it wasn’t too bad for me. But when it was all over, I remember I cried and cried
and cried.”

The Tri-County got its first look at the 7-year-old Corbin girl in 2002 when she entered the World
Chicken Festival’s talent competition. The young girl belted out the words to Patsy Cline’s
“Sweet Dreams,” bringing the crowd to its feet, and taking home the $100 prize for first place.

That was the day Mackenzie Morgan began her career as an entertainer.

“People kept inviting me to sing places like churches, festivals and fairs,” said Mackenzie. “It
was just wild.”

It would be another year before the young entertainer would receive her first paycheck for a
performance. Mackenzie was offered $50 a night as a regular every-other-month performer at
Country World in Richmond. Of course, the small compensation barely paid for the gas her
family used up driving her to and from performances.

Over the past five years, performances and competitions have taken Mackenzie and her parents,
Tracy and David Stambaugh, through at least 10 states across the nation.

One such performance in 2006 took the family to Washington for the annual Pageant of Peace
held on the front lawn of the White House where Mackenzie performed three songs.

“There were just so many people there,” said Mackenzie. “It was pretty cool. We saw where they
make the money, and we visited the holocaust museum and the Lincoln Memorial. Only I didn’t
get to meet the president, he was already at Camp David.”

Mackenzie’s mom accompanies her daughter to every performance and helps her prepare to go
onstage, while Dad attends every performance he can when he’s not working. Both parents
escort their daughter whenever her performances take her more than a couple of hours away
from home.

“It was and still is important that we support our daughter,” said Tracy Stambaugh. “We can see
what she’s got, but when you see people’s reaction to her, the effect she has on people — it’s
like a pastor’s wife once told Mackenzie, ‘I believe you’re going to sing to millions.’ — it’s like I’ve
always known it. It was the Lord leading us.”

However, being in such high demand also has it’s drawbacks. Mackenzie received so many
offers to sing in her first year performing, it began to adversely affect the second grader’s
schooling, with all the days off needed for travel to performances.

Rather than see their daughter set back a year in school, the Stambaughs turned to
home-schooling. After weeks of research, the family chose the Abeka Christian Academy
curriculum, largely because it came highly recommended from other home-school families, and
it was also the curriculum of choice at Cornerstone Christian Academy. Within a year,
Mackenzie not only caught up to where she needed to be academically, but tested above that
required for her grade level.

Mackenzie spends about five hours a day at ‘school.’ The Abeka program includes teacher’s
manuals so that her mom can grade her work. Each year Tracy returns with her daughter to
Cornerstone Christian Academy to take the CATS test to make sure she is where she needs to
be.

“I miss my friends,” said Mackenzie of her public school days, “but I’ve made a lot of new
friends at the show, so it’s not so bad. I don’t miss having to do all the little filler projects, like
coloring, and I REALLY don’t miss all the hours we had to spend on the bus traveling to school
and back home.”

‘The show’ Mackenzie refers to is the Chattanooga Choo-Choo Jukebox Junction Family
Theater in Chattanooga, Tenn., where Mackenzie and her family now call home. Mackenzie was
discovered by the producer of the Chattanooga theater while singing at The Old Smokey
Hoedown in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

At 12 years old, Mackenzie is the youngest member of the show, performing six songs a night
three to five nights a week. After more than five years on stage, the young girl considers herself
a seasoned performer. She feels comfortable under the bright lights of the stage, whether
performing with the aid of a CD or in front of a live band.

“I practice about an hour a day after school with my CDs,” said Mackenzie. “Mom helps me
vocally by keeping me from singing out of my nose and making sure I’m breathing right.

“The Lord gave me my talent and mom helps me perfect it. The hardest part is projecting a
natural stage presence. You can’t just stand there like a dead stick. You have to learn to act out
the song and develop body language.”

Since 2005, Mackenzie’s talent has landed her ten regional and eight international awards for
either entertainer, vocalist or young performer of the year. In 2005, the young singer won the
Country Gospel Music Association’s award for International Young Performer of the Year in
Branson, Mo. For the past three years, she has won the New Gospel Female Entertainer of the
Year at Pigeon Forge, Tenn. She is a member of both the North American Country Music
Association and the Tennessee Country Music Association.

Mackenzie is influenced by such performing greats as Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Martina
McBride and today’s new country star, Carrie Underwood.

“Carrie Underwood is definitely my favorite performer,” said Mackenzie, “because she has such
a great voice and she’s so very pretty. I would love to someday sing with her onstage.”

Videos of Mackenzie’s performances published on the Web recently drew the attention of
producers of the Maury Povich show. On Tuesday, March 3, Mackenzie will be competing on the
Fox Network show against six other young entertainers ranging from ages 4-13 in a talent
contest.

“I thought someone was messing with me,” said Mackenzie’s mom. “When I called the number
they left, they told me they found Mackenzie on YouTube. They were looking for a kid country
singer, and Mackenzie was chosen out of thousands of kids across the nation.”

From the day Tracy Stambaugh received the first e-mail inviting Mackenzie to participate on the
show, the family’s lives were turned upside down. The television people called the Stambaughs
looking for pictures of Mackenzie when she was a baby and of her with famous people, videos
of her when she first started singing, and especially pictures and video of her performance at
the White House. Every day it was phone calls and travel arrangements.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen from here,” said Tracy, “but someone at the show told us
to be prepared for what’s going to happen next.”

Apparently, she said, producers watch each other’s shows and, if you’re good, start making
offers to make guest appearances on their shows.

“We’ve always known Mackenzie was good enough for television,” said her mom, “but it was
out of our hands. When God got ready for it to happen, they found her.”

After the Maury Povich show airs at 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 3 (Fox 56 channel 8 on cable or
satellite channel 56), the public will get the chance to go online at www.mauryshow.com and
vote for their favorite performer.

Mackenzie, of course, is hoping her friends in the Tri-County will watch the show and vote for
her.

A video of Mackenzie’s performance of Martina McBride’s “Anyway” can be found online at
www.thetimestribune.com along with this story. Anyone wishing to see more of Mackenzie’s
performances can catch her videos on YouTube.