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CBN.com – Lisa Ryan recently talked with the musical sensation and newlywed about her newfound stardom.
LISA RYAN: You have had such a fairytale experience.
KRISTY STARLING: I have.
LISA RYAN: I mean, literally overnight your life changed when you were one of the finalists on Today’s Superstar contest. Did you ever imagine something like this could happen?
KRISTY STARLING: No, it’s just been such an unbelievable experience. You never think these sorts of things can happen to real people. When it happens to you, it’s even crazier.
LISA RYAN: What was it like every time you came on performing and then waiting for an audience of millions to vote on you?
KRISTY STARLING: It was nerve racking. First, you’re hoping that you do well, that you don’t mess up. Second of all, you’re hoping that people like it. I was just like, 'Lord, if this is what You have for me, then You’ll work it out.' I had so much fun with it. I wasn’t worried at all. It was just kind of like whatever God has in store for me, that’s what it will be.
LISA RYAN: So, you weren’t out to win. You were just trusting the Lord.
KRISTY STARLING: I really wasn’t. I thought I would be just because it was such a cool thing, but I really was, like, this is just so much fun. Who gets to go on The Today Show? It was just such a cool experience. I just enjoyed it.
LISA RYAN: Before you kind of got discovered, what were your plans? What did you want to do?
KRISTY STARLING: I’ve been actually at a time in my life when I was like, 'Lord, I have no idea where You want me to be, but I know You’ve called me into music ministry, so put me in that position.' I had always wanted to be a recording artist. I put it in the back of my mind because I knew how hard it was to get involved in it.
LISA RYAN: Seems like an impossibility as well.
KRISTY STARLING: It was like, 'Why don’t you pursue this, and this, and this.' I was like, 'Mom, I honestly feel like the Lord is going to do everything for me.' I wanted to come into contact with the right people, but I had no idea it would be the people on The Today Show. God has such a bigger way of doing things than I could ever imagine. It couldn’t have been any more perfect.
LISA RYAN: You had an opportunity also while you were performing and competing to be interviewed and to share a little of your life. You shared about your faith. How well was that received?
KRISTY STARLING: I was a ministry major in college. You can’t get around that. If they ask you what your major is, you’ve got to tell them. So, at first I said ministry, and they kind of wanted me to expound on it. I thought, This is a great opportunity! They volunteered quite a bit of information that they really didn’t have to say, which was very cool to me. I was like, man, God is doing so much! It was very neat to see how God was using these people who don’t necessarily acknowledge Christianity all that much to see them accepting it and say, 'This is Kristy, and that’s who she is.'
LISA RYAN: You have loved music from the time you were a child, actually from the time you were in the womb.
KRISTY STARLING: Yeah, oh yeah.
LISA RYAN: Tell me about that.
KRISTY STARLING: Well, my mom said that whenever she was pregnant with me, she and my dad were both in the choir, and they were constantly practicing their music for the Easter musicals and the Christmas musicals and things. She said, 'I knew you were going to be a singer. You were constantly hearing it.' The day I could talk, I was just humming and singing.
LISA RYAN: You also developed severe stage freight at one point and could not bring yourself to go out there in front of people. What was that like?
KRISTY STARLING: It was such a scary situation because I had known that God had called me into music ministry. I was praying, 'Lord, just take it away. Tomorrow let me get on the stage and just be fine.' It was a learning process for me to learn that the Lord was going to take care of it. He’s going to equip me to do what He’s called me to do. It was just kind of a gradual learning experience, like, 'Hey, I brought you through the last time. I’ll bring you through this one.'
LISA RYAN: You’re also a newlywed.
KRISTY STARLING: I am. I love it!
LISA RYAN: You married your first love, like junior high sweethearts. How has that affected your newfound fame, I guess you’d call it? How has that affected your marriage as well?
KRISTY STARLING: We know that this is where God has us right now, so He is just completely all for it.
LISA RYAN: You also really want your music and your message to touch the hearts and lives of young women and to be a role model for them. Do you feel like they need some good role models right now?
KRISTY STARLING: Absolutely. I guess in a roundabout way I just want to be able to be a person that moms can look at and say, 'I would love for my daughter to be like that.' Instead of saying, 'Oh, please don’t turn out like that person,' I want to be a role model to where girls can say, 'OK, because she can do it, I know that I can do it, through the Lord.'
LISA RYAN: What are some of the issues that young ladies are kind of struggling with these days?
KRISTY STARLING: Man, appearance, such a key thing. I struggled with it, and I don’t think there’s one person that doesn’t. I guess when you realize who you are in Christ, things start to not matter as much. The thinks that were once such a big deal to you seem so petty.
LISA RYAN (reporting): Kristy has a hit single, "Water," from her new self-titled CD that is being played on radio stations now. The Christian music CD broke into the top 20 shortly after its release.
LISA RYAN: Do you feel like this was a destiny experience for you?
KRISTY STARLING: I do. It’s so hard to imagine that God would use me to do this, but He knew this was the desire of my heart. I just trusted Him that He knew what He was doing. He brought me this far, and I’m just jumping on the bandwagon and saying, 'Let’s go!'
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