After hours of auditions Tuesday night in Little Elm, senior Kia Dunlop and junior Megan Guidry sang their way to the Area round of the All State choir audition process, having been selected for their vocal group. Dunlop and Guidry secured a spot in the top region choir and are now preparing for the next tryout.

For Dunlop is one step closer to making All State in what is her last chance to audition.

“I’ve had a lot of individual practice with usually me and my voice lesson teacher, as well as practice at home every day leading up to the audition,” Dunlop said. “I feel like my confidence as increased that I did much better this year than I have in past years. I’m going to put in more time than I did before, coming in more for extra hassles, extra practices. I’ve taken off extra days off of work to practice more.”

Choir teacher Toni Ugolini expects Dunlop and Guidry to give a strong performance at the next round and believes that making it this far is a testament to their skills as singers.

“I expect that they’ll work hard and do really, really well,” Ugolini said. “I think they both stand a really great shot. But regardless, I know that they’re going to be stronger singers and team members from all of us. I’ve noticed a strong growth in leadership with them throughout this process, and just a lot of time spent at home being individually accountable for their actions.”

Guidry is finally one step closer to making her dream of being an All State singer a reality.

“I was practicing almost every day, running through the cuts, practicing sight reading as well, because that’s an important component of auditions,” Guidry said. “I really like singing with the other people who make it because they’re all so talented.”