I like to sing. I sang in church and school choirs all my life and at karaoke nights. But when the Covid lockdown came, my club nights were over, so I was looking for a singing outlet.
A friend recommended a singing app to me, and I signed up. You could sing any song you wanted and put it out for other people to sing a duet with. Or you could join other people from all over the world who also posted songs.
It was fun. And for me, it was a lifeboat in a dark sea of loneliness—I could escape from the scary outside world in 2020.
I worked at home and I lived alone, so electronic communication was my only connection to other humans.
I soon found a group of people who sang the same songs I liked. I looked forward to singing and soon joined in every night, so I developed relationships fast.
One day I got a DM through the app. It said, “You have a nice voice. Want to sing together?”
I’d heard about trolls on the app from the Facebook group, so I ignored it. I’d received a few others that praised my pretty smile or merely said “Hi, beautiful”—the online equivalent of a cheesy pick-up line.
Do these arrogant men really think women out there are so desperate they will be swayed by just an anonymous, meaningless compliment? Not me.
Then a few days later, I got a notification on my phone that said I got an invite to sing live on the app. And there was another DM from the same guy that said, “Do you want to sing with me live?”
The app had a live feature where you could sing together in real time in private or public online rooms. That sounded interesting and pretty harmless. I looked up the guy who invited me. His profile name was @onajourney. I sang with him a few times. I barely remembered his face, but I did remember his voice. He was good.
I have to admit; I adorned a little—hair, makeup and a nice shirt, like it was a date. Stupid, I know. It wasn’t a date, but after weeks of no makeup and lounge pants, it felt good to get spruced up.
So, there we were face to face…well, virtually. Since people use handles, not their real names, we introduced ourselves. His name was Greg.
We spent two hours online talking, laughing and singing. Most of our discussions surrounded concerts we had gone to and songs we liked. We had a lot in common and liked similar music. It was oddly normal, like a real first date.
When it was over, we agreed to sing again the following week. After we disconnected, I found myself a little giddy. He was average-looking, but to me, looks were irrelevant. He was funny; he seemed pretty smart and most of all; he had a nice voice.
Some people like muscles or a handsome face and others are attracted to intellect. For me, I swoon over a stellar singing voice.
The way someone sings tells a lot about them. What they put into the inflection and tone of a song and the way they perform it can show a lot about their personality. The passionate look on their face when crooning a ballad, the humor when singing a funny song and the cool factor when belting out a rock and roll anthem.
What can I say? I appreciate a talented singer. And Greg had an exceptional voice.
I went on the app and listened to the songs under his profile. He sang ballads with such conviction and his rock songs were off the charts. I was smitten.
Leading up to our “online sing date,” I practiced some songs on his favorites list over and over, so I could suggest we sing them together. And this time, he played piano and guitar for me and showed me his “studio” converted from a spare bedroom. It was like I had a backstage pass and the lead singer of my favorite band was interested in me.
After a few sings, we made a weekly sing date, but I was pretty far gone at this point. I was really into him. It was as if a wonderful rhapsody surrounded and enveloped me with the soulful sounds of music.
But I didn’t know if the epic romance was all in my head.
We talked and flirted, but I thought he may have just wanted to sing together. He could be married or in a relationship, for all I knew. So, before I got myself in any deeper, I decided to use our next sing to do some detective work.
First, I had to find out if he was attached, so I made some very pointed statements to see what he said.
“I’m so glad I live alone, so I can sing as loud as I want,” I said.
“Yeah, I know some others on the app who sing in their car, so they don’t disturb their family. I only have to worry about my neighbors, but they are pretty far away,” he said.
That was good news; it sounded like he didn’t live with anyone and owned or rented a home. But I didn’t know if he had a girlfriend or a boyfriend, for that matter. So I tried again.
“I really enjoy meeting so many people from around the world on this app. With Covid, I don’t really go out and have been working at home, so this and some Zoom trivia with friends are my only human contact,” I said.
“Well, I work at a boring accounting office, but I really haven’t socialized much either since the lockdown,” he said.
I counted that as two wins. No attachments and he was employed.
As the night went on, we sang and started harmonizing together. Singing harmony with someone you are enamored with is like dancing a sultry tango. You blend as your voices intertwine to create a beautiful resonance until you don’t know where you start and he leaves off. It’s a feeling of true synchronicity that thrills, captivates and delights.
I started dropping hints and putting everything out there in my performance. It was almost like yelling out a mating call. I needed to see if he was interested.
“I love this song. It’s one of my karaoke go-tos,” I said.
“Oh, really—where do you like to sing at?” he asked.
“There’s this place about a half-hour away called The Factory. It’s an old warehouse they turned into a club and they do karaoke a few nights a week,” I said.
He smiled and just looked at me intently in silence and then laughed.
“I know that place; it’s about an hour from my house.”
I nearly fell over. Could he actually live close to me? We never said where we were. I knew we were in the same time zone because we coordinated our live sing dates, but I didn’t know he lived that close.
Flabbergasted, I wasn’t sure if I should ask him where he lived or if that would be too forward. I chickened out and just laughed.
“Small world.”
“Maybe we should meet there sometime, when this is over,” he said.
After our sing that night, my mind swirled with all kinds of possibilities. Did he want to see me face to face, like an actual date, or was it just two karaoke friends getting together?
A couple months went by and clubs and restaurants started to open up again.
We were sending each other DMs a lot at that point. Then I saw The Factory was reopening with a karaoke contest. I threw caution to the wind and just invited him to meet me there. I figured the only way to find out if it was anything was to jump in the deep end with both feet.
I stared at my phone for hours, waiting for an answer. I picked it up a hundred times to see if he wanted to go.
Then panic set it. Did I jump the gun? Was it too early? Was I too forward? Finally, my phone binged. His message said, Great, meet you there!
When the day came, I intended to get there early, but I changed my clothes so many times, I ended up getting there on time. I saw him sitting in a booth near the karaoke stage. He was legit. People who sing karaoke always want to sit next to the stage.
He smiled and waved to me. I approached the table and he stood up and kissed me on the cheek. A charge surged through my body like static electricity. And he leaned in and hug me during the kiss and I thought it lingered, so I was hopeful.
“I remembered you said you drank Jack and Coke, so I ordered one for you,” he said.
I smiled and thanked him. This was a good sign. He was polite and attentive and remembered my favorite drink.
The place filled up and they started taking names for the contest. Everyone in the club could submit ballots for the winner.
“Hey, I had an idea. Why don’t we do one of our harmony duets that we sang online? What do you think?” he asked.
I held my breath a little and smiled, while nodding yes. I was afraid if I opened my mouth, I would sing a joyful aria of ecstasy. He wanted to sing with me, on stage. In my playbook, that was practically first base.
I had never been nervous singing karaoke before, but this was pressure. I was petrified. I didn’t want to mess up, but more than that, I so wanted our harmonious connection to materialize in a live performance.
We got up on stage and I was praying in my head—don’t screw it up and especially don’t make a fool of yourself.
We sang a classic rock love ballad. The lights from the disco ball seemed to turn like stars in the night sky. As we turned to each other and sang, I looked deeply into his eyes and he looked into mine. It was perfect harmony. He sang with such passion, I believed every word. It was as if we were the only ones there.
Then when it was over, the crowd erupted in applause, some standing up and cheering and the DJ came on the stage.
“Well, I think we may have our winner. These two are going to be tough to beat.”
Greg smiled at me and we walked off the stage to our table.
“That was incredible,” he said. “We were in the zone.”
I smiled and agreed. Actually, I had no idea how we sounded. I was on autopilot, so entranced by his eyes and his voice, I didn’t hear a thing.
The rest of the night, he sat right next to me with our chairs close together facing the stage. And his arm was around my chair. Again, I was encouraged.
After all the singers were done, the DJ announced the winner.
“The ballots are in and it wasn’t even close. I predicted it—the winners are Candice and Greg.”
We won! We both jumped up at the same time and Greg grabbed me, dipped me and kissed me. It was like that World War II picture at the end of the war. It was long, wet and dramatic, and I could feel it down to my toes.
He pulled me up and we ran on stage. We got a trophy and a gift certificate for the club, but that kiss was worth a million dollars to me. I was blinded, with stars in my eyes, when he asked if I wanted to leave.
As soon as we were outside, he grabbed my hands and looked at me with so much sincerity, I desperately wanted to kiss him.
“I hope you’re ok that I kissed you, but I couldn’t help myself. I’ve been in love with you since the first time we sang together. I think we have a really special bond,” he declared with genuine adoration.
I was so overwhelmed with emotion; I dragged him into my car and, to be delicate, let’s just say we rocked the car too.
It’s been the most wonderful year of my life. We just moved in together and we’re starting a rock band. I’m certain this is just the beginning of making beautiful music together.
Note: This is one of the collections of stories from a book called First Sight.  these are stories of people who met and fell in love at first sight. It can’t happen and it did as all  of these are fictionalized accounts of real people and real experiences of falling in love.
(C) Suzanne Rudd Hamilton 2022
SUZANNE RUDD HAMILTON 