Fifteen-year-old Rachael Lampa loves the pop divas: Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and their like. But this 4'10" diva-in-the-making had to tape the *Divas* TV special to watch later; a phone interview with an entertainment journalist kept her up past her bedtime, and her first period Spanish class starts at the un-lovely hour of 7:30 a.m.

A day in the life of Rachael Lampa looks like that of any given 10th-grader at Monarch High in Louisville, Colorado, near Boulder. But Rachael Lampa, the Monarch High point guard and champion orange peeler, and Rachael Lampa, the budding pop diva, would seem to have very different schedules. Sports and school lunches had to wait when Rachael went to London for the recording of the prestigious London Session Orchestra's contribution to her much-anticipated Word Records CD, "Live For You." The church youth group and Fellowship of Christian Athletes met without her when Rachael stayed in Nashville for meetings with some of Music City's most successful songwriters.

And her brother Ryan drove to Monarch High by himself the week that Rachael flew to Nashville to record a duet with the legendary Aaron Neville, an event that seemed almost ho-hum until Rachael was told about Neville's famed duet with one of her heroes ("THAT's him? The guy who sings 'Don't Know Much', with Linda Ronstadt? I'm singing with HIM? Oh my gosh!").

Aaron Neville wasn't the first to be wowed by Rachael Lampa's prodigious talent; it was evident early on in her young life. Very early, in fact: family legend has it that Rachael belted out tunes from her baby crib and could sing perfect harmony by age 4. From time to time, her singing got her in trouble; despite her parents' pride in their child's talent, enough was enough, and singing too loud at the dinner table won Rachael a trip to her room more than once.

She was quickly at home on a stage, from The Jenny Jones Show's Young Talent Search (at 12). to finishing in 2nd place at the World Championship of Entertainment and her frequent performances of the national anthem at Colorado Rockies baseball games, Lampa's childhood dreams seemed destined to come true.

Though she's not a songwriter (yet!), Rachael Lampa, A vice president, Brent Bourgeois and the rest of the Word Records team have taken great care to make sure that the songs she sings are close to Rachael's heart and mind, reflecting her experiences in the writing talents of Christian music's brightest and best songsmiths. To that end, the multi-talented Bourgeois (who is also an award-winning producer/singer-songwriter/artist) put together a most unusual creative conclave. Singer-songwriters Cindy Morgan, Chris Rodriguez, Chris Eaton, Ginny Owens, David and Nicole C. Mullen, and Michelle Tumes joined Bourgeois for a few weeks, at a songwriting retreat in the Tennessee countryside.

For this pint-sized powerhouse, this diva without a driver's license, the pure joy of singing about Rachael Lampa's faith surpasses all the fanfare.

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