Bucks' Guarini could be "idolized' tonight;
Stepsister, friends say competition is tough. Fox show airs at 9 p.m.
Naomi Kim
Morning Call (Allentown, PA) September 3, 2002

Justin Guarini's long and uncertain journey to become the first "American Idol" will culminate this week when he takes the stage for the last time before millions of viewers on the Fox hit television show.

Guarini, of Doylestown Township, will perform at 9 tonight on "American Idol" against rival Kelly Clarkson of Burleson, Texas, for a major recording contract. The 16.9 million people who watched the show last week can finally put their dialing fingers to rest when the pair returns Wednesday for a two-hour finale beginning at 8 p.m.

The same goes for Guarini's stepsister, Dianna Beach, who said the most she has ever voted was 600 times in a single night. "But I also had callouses on my fingers," added Beach, 44, of Jamison, Bucks County.

Viewers will get to vote for their favorite performer via telephone between 10 p.m. and midnight today.

Beach said 56 of Guarini's relatives flew to Los Angeles on Saturday to cheer him on. His mother, Kathy Guarini; stepfather, Jerry Guarini; and birth father, Eldrin Bell, have also been in Los Angeles since Guarini made the top 10.

Beach said it's hard to tell if Guarini can defeat Clarkson.

"I think the most talented was Tamyra [Gray]. With the three that were left [Guarini, Clarkson and Gray], it would have been tough. As far as Kelly and Justin, how can you compare them? They're different performers."

Beach did think Guarini and Clarkson each had specific strengths. " She's got an awesome voice. She's got a lot of power. But I think Justin is the complete package. He's got a really great voice, and he knows how to work a crowd."

Scott Teschner, Guarini's choral director at Central Bucks East High School, where he graduated in 1997, agreed that Guarini has a strong stage presence. Guarini was choir president his senior year, an onstage director of several musical ensembles and a member of district and regional choruses, Teschner said.

Guarini also started an acapella group, Midnight Voices, with nine of his high school friends in 1998 and recorded a CD, Teschner said.

"He has always been an outstanding singer," he said.

Teschner added that Guarini will have to perform "vocal gymnastics" tonight to succeed.

"What he needs to do in the final performance is show off what he can do. He has played it pretty conservatively this summer, but he broke out of that the past couple weeks."

Guarini's newfound fame also has personal meaning for Teschner.

"It's something that makes you really proud of your students to know he can accomplish this, to know that someone who is genuinely a nice person is pursuing their lifelong dream."

Faculty and staff at Central Bucks East have been voting for Guarini as well, Teschner said.

Guarini's success also seems to have rubbed off on his family, at least at the local level. Beach said family members get calls from the media and are approached by fans all the time.

"The demands it has put on the entire family -- we didn't even realize it," Beach said. "How the public views us [affects Justin]. We can't come off as insincere and not nice, because that will reflect on him."

Another hardship is sharing her brother with the public. Beach said she and her children had to wait in line for his autograph in Philadelphia when he visited City Hall recently.

She added, "[Justin] has lost weight, and he looks tired."

Guarini told his stepsister that although it would be nice to win, it wouldn't matter if he didn't.

"When he called after Tamyra was eliminated, he said, "Don't cry for her. She's getting a contract, and she gets a week off.' So they all know that they've arrived," Beach said.

Guarini's longtime friend and fellow high school chorus member Bo Dunlap agreed. "I always figured that Justin would do something like this," he said

Dunlap, who lives in Towson, Md., just north of Baltimore, said he and other friends have gotten together to watch the show. Although Dunlap said Clarkson is "stiff competition," he thinks Guarini will win.