'I only entered 'Fame' for the craic!'

"I'm having the time of my life. It's a long journey, but it's a great journey, and I wouldn't like it to end yet!" Sean Carey reflecting on his experience in 'Fame: The Musical', the reality television contest on RTE which is offering the winners the chance to play the lead male and lead female role in a national tour of the popular musical. The Dunshaughlin teenager turned 19 on Friday last, but hadn't much time to celebrate as the rehearsals and recording of the series means that there isn't much time for anything else at the moment. Out of the 12 contestants that started off in the live heats at The Helix, it is down to the last seven, with Sean one of four of the menfolk left vying for the chance to play Nick in 'Fame'. On Sunday night, the three judges didn't think he was suited to swing numbers after his performance of 'The Lady is a Tramp'. They didn't think that swing matched his vocal quality. So when it was just him and fellow contestant Conleth Keevan left for a place in the sing-off, Sean admits he was "petrified!" He recalled: "I thought, after getting the negative reaction from the judges, that this was it, I was gone. You could see it on Sunday night - I wear my emotions on my sleeve and was so relieved when I got through." It gets tenser as successful names are called and there's fewer left on the stage, he says. "I only entered it for the craic, but it's now a reality. We're in week five, and I must admit, now that I've got this far, I'd like to go all the way with it." Sean is the only one of the four guys left who hasn't been professionally trained, having come through the amateur ranks of local musical societies. He first went on the musical stage four years ago, in St Mary's Musical Society's production of 'West Side Story'. At Dunshaughlin Community College, he had taken part in school dramas, and his teacher, Johnny Grant, who is involved in St Mary's, asked him if he could sing. It wasn't a singing role, but the bug had bit. "The musical director of West Side Story was David Hayes, who is now musical director of 'Fame'," Sean explained. "So it was nice to have that connection." He didn't start singing until just over two years ago when he chanced his arm at it in a pub while on holiday with his family. Impressed with his performance, his parents, Avril and Martin, organised singing lessons. Stage roles continued. "I was the front of the cow in Jack and the Beanstalk," he laughs. "Philip Brady was the rear end!" Killian Donnelly, who produced the panto and is now singing on London's West End, was impressed at how much he put into every role he had, "even the cow!" "Killian has been an inspiration, and a great mentor, always ready with advice," Sean added. "He's a real inspiration, and says I should go out there every night with the intention of winning." Donnelly, from Kilmessan, a St Mary's protégé, is now playing a lead role in 'Les Miserables' in London. "It'd be great if lightning struck twice for the society," Sean said. "I'd love to go down the road Killian has gone." It was his grandfather, Liam Carey, from Erris in Mayo, who suggested he audition for 'Fame' after seeing the judges Erica Gimpel, Simon Delany and Robert C Kelly on the 'Late Late Show'. "I had seen it but didn't think I'd be in that league," Sean said. "But I filled out the forms, and got called for audition. I almost forgot I had applied, so the morning before I decided I'd sing 'Moondance'." He was accepted for Fame school, where he met lads who had been training in London for years. Following the producers' audition and the judges' auditions, where he "acted his socks off and sang his socks off," he was selected as one of the final 12, which he couldn't believe. College has been put on hold. Sean is studying media studies with Irish and history in an arts degree at NUI Maynooth. Demands of the rehearsals and academia couldn't all be met, so he has the option of sitting the repeats in August. And it's no picnic. Getting home on Sunday around 10.30pm, he's back in Dublin for rehearsals on Monday morning. There's choreography on Tuesdays, sometimes workshops on Wednesdays, more singing on Thursdays with group rehearsals and then off to The Helix on Saturdays and Sundays, from early morning. "Sometimes there's times when the amateur background becomes evident, as the going gets extreme," Sean said. He has suffered tonsillitis, but has tried not to make a big deal out of it. "I don't want sympathy," he added. This week is different than normal, as he doesn't yet know what he'll be performing on Sunday. "It's judges' choice this week - they tell us we're being taken out of our comfort zone." He is delighted with the support he is getting around the locality. "Businesses and people have been great, sponsoring posters. The local clubs are supporting me too - it's unusual to see Meath people supporting something that doesn't involve a ball," he laughed. "And John Walsh of JW Construction has even transformed his van into a mobile poster." Sean's younger brother, Liam, plays hurling for Drumree and Meath under-14s, and he as an 11-year old sister, Saoirse. The family moved to Meath in 1994 from Erris in Mayo, and Sean attended Scoil na Rithe and the local community college. While he accepts there is a certain amount of parochialism involved in the voting, he hopes he is still there on merit. "I hope that I have earned that support through my performances," Sean added. There are just three more shows left, next week's programme, followed by the semi-finals and the final on 13th June. * Fame goes out on RTE 1 at 6.30pm Sundays, with the results show at 8.30pm, following an hour of voting. To support Sean, text Fame 10 to 53125 when the lines open.