Poland woman is karaoke queen

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Neighbors | Submitted.Suzanne Shorrab (center) watched the Singing Bee episode she appeared on with a group of about 50 family and friends on Aug. 6.

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Suzanne Shorrab takes a victory drink from the trophy she won on The Singing Bee, a karaoke-style game show that airs on CMT.

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Suzanne Shorrab (center) celebrated her Singing Bee victory with her mom and aunts at a watch party Aug. 6. She won $10,000 on the show.

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Suzanne Shorrab (left) shows off the trophy she won as the winner of the Singing Bee in November. The episode she won was aired Aug. 6. She is pictured with her boyfriend Dan Poppke.

All those nights of karaoke and listening to the radio nonstop, finally paid off for a Poland woman — to the tune of $10,000.

Suzanne Shorrab put her knowledge of musical lyrics to the test when she appeared on “The Singing Bee” last November. The show, hosted by Melissa Peterman and airing on CMT, is a karaoke-style game show that tests contestants’ knowledge of lyrics to well-known country music hits, along with other popular genre favorites.

Shorrab led the competition the entire show and earned the right to play for the grand prize, which she won. She was under contract to keep her victory a secret until the episode aired, which was Aug. 6.

“It was terribly hard to keep quiet,” she admitted. “They told me that I can tell my family and friends, but I might want to only tell people who won’t let it get out. People knew I went on the show and were asking me how I did. All I could say was ‘watch and see.’”

The parity tutor at McGuffy Elementary decided to apply for the show after watching it when it began on NBC in July 2007 with Joey Fatone as the host. She continued to tune in when it switched to CMT in June 2009 and thought she’d do well if ever on the show.

She applied for a spot on the show and a month later got a phone call. After a phone interview, Shorrab was asked to audition — on her Web cam. She interviewed with show’s production assistants, who simply had a CD player next to her. She’d play part of a song and stop it so that Shorrab could complete the lyrics.

She earned her way to the next step of the audition process — another Web cam audition — this time in front of a panel of show producers. It was kind of an odd process and her knowledge of lyrics wasn’t the only thing the producers were judging.

“It was crazy,” said Shorrab, 26. “I’m in my bedroom on a Web cam and my room was a mess. They had me pan my camera so they could see what I was wearing to see my style. And they wanted me to react the way I normally would if I got a song right.”

Not long after, she got the call she was waiting for. She flew out to Los Angeles on Nov. 18, taped the show the next day and was home on Nov. 20.

“It was a fast process and I was on pins and needles the whole time. When you go out there, you’re in the audience and you don’t even know if you’ll be competing until they pick you out of the crowd.”

She got on stage and the rest is Singing Bee history.

Despite winning the big prize over nine months ago, Shorrab has yet to see the money. But she has plans for it once it arrives.

“They have until 90 days after the episode’s air date to send the money,” she said. “So it could potentially be a year since I won it. I’m going to save most of it. We are moving out to California though, so I’m sure there will be a cross country road trip in there somewhere.”

No doubt, she’ll pack her iPod for her trip out West.