Hartland Middle School Student will Compete in Final Got Talent Competition

student Brooke Bliznick is in the running for a $1,000 cash prize and title of Most Talented throught the Got Talent contest sponsored by the Huron Valley Council for the Arts.

The young singer was among hundreds who showed up to audition last month and made it through two competitive rounds. She will be competing against 15 other acts at the finals on April 14 at Milford High School.

The 14-year oldest daughter of two Hartland middle school teachers, Brooke has been taking voice lessons and studying opera since the age of nine.

“They usually don’t do vocal lessons that young,” Brooke’s mother said. “But she was going to sing anyway. I mean, she was a singer, she just always sang so much so we knew she was going to sing anyway. So, we thought she might as well learn to do it properly.”

Gerald and Jill Bliznick first recognized their daughter’s talent after she auditioned for a Howell community theater production of Alice in Wonderland. Due to her young age, they didn’t have her audition for the lead in the play, but Brooke still won the part after the directors heard her sing.

“She was trying out for the door mouse and they heard her,” Jill Bliznick said “They called around midnight to tell us she got the part and I remember trying to wake her up. I couldn’t wake her so I had to wait till morning to actually tell her and have it sink in.”

Since then, Brooke has done multiple shows every year for the Howell community theater and has also studied with the Detroit Opera Children’s Choir. She has also been competing in the Michigan Music Association every year since the age of nine. 

“That’s a pretty prestigious competition,” Gerald Bliznick said. “That competition is vocal, pianist and guitar and they have age levels so you can compete and they give you a full critique and point scaling.”

Although Brooke has been competing in the MMA competition for several years-- this year she took first place for Inspirational-- on April 14, however, at the Got Talent competition, Brooke will be competing against various other acts of every age and talent that can range anywhere from dancers to large singing groups.

“I don’t know the exact acts that made it,” Brooke said. “I got to see some people before me and they were really good. It’s everything though- the person before me was twirl baton. It’s going to be really tough." 

Brooke is still undecided on what song to perform for her final performance but is considering the opera song Voi, che sapete from an Italian Opera or possibly a Broadway tune, which she says are her favorite.

“I still have some time to decide,” she said.

The song may still be undecided, but Brooke already knows what she will do with the cash prize, however, if she does win. 

“I’m saving it for Interlochen,” she said of the well-known camp for the arts.

She has been accepted, but since it conflicts with band camp, this summer, she is hoping to attend next year instead. The tuition-- even after winning a scholarship for the camp-- is still expensive, however-- with prices ranging from $3000 to $10000 depending on age and discipline-- which is why Brooke is planning on saving over the next year and hopes to put all of her winnings towards her goal.

And even though a large part of her family’s time is spent around Brooke’s young singing career, she and her parents insist that music is still considered just a hobby. The talented eighth-grader says she has plans to study genetics in the future and is already enrolled in several honors classes at school.

“She has a real good head on her shoulders,” her mom said and although the family is excited for the Got Talent competition, her parents say that no matter what happens, they are proud of their daughter. 

“I always feel butterflies when she performs,” Jill Bliznick said.  “But the outcome doesn’t matter, we think she’s great.”