Five minutes ago, my cell phone started playing the ring assigned to my parents’ landline. I pulled myself out of my work haze and answered. My mom’s voice sounded more excited and full of laughter than is normal for a random mid-day call and so I asked, “Hey mama, what’s up?”

“I just talked to your sister. She is auditioning for a reality tv show called ‘The Music Project‘ that’s going to be on ABC. She was playing a gig at an Italian restaurant in Woodland Hills (suburb of LA) last night, when a talent scout came up to her and asked her if she’d be interested in auditioning. When she told him that she was only going to be in town until Tuesday, he told her not to worry, he’d absolutely get her an audition before then.”

From what I can gather, this show will be a combination of American Idol and Big Brother, all the musicians will live in a house together and then get voted off, depending on their singing ability. The winner will get a Sony recording contract. Right now, it’s nothing more than an audition, but what a cool opportunity. And if nothing else comes out of it, she’ll now be able to start a story with the line, “I was once discovered by a talent scout in an Italian restaurant in Woodland Hills. My music made him choke on his papardelle.”

(If you believe in the power of petitioning the universe for things, now would be a good time to send some of those vibes and good thoughts down to Raina in Southern CA, in the hopes that she knocks their socks off).