Somewhere between TheatreWorks productions such as First Site
and the middle school drama club, 7th-grader Deidra Shores has gone
missing. Where in the world is she?
The Colonial Middle School student is in New York City, sitting
alongside Natalie Morales, Al Roker, and Ann Curry, in hopes of winning
the Today show’s “Kid Reporter” contest.
After promotions about the contest began airing on Today in
early October, Vanessa Conner, Shores’ mother, mentioned the contest to
her daughter.
“It took me two hours to shoot the video,” Shores said. “I was
running around Memphis like a mini paparazzo.”
In the third week of the competition, Shores became a semi-finalist
with her parody of Today‘s popular segment, “Where in the World
Is Matt Lauer?”
From those 16 semi-finalists, Shores became one of four finalists.
And, with that, she made her way to the Big Apple.
During her first trip to the Today show, Shores met singer
Rod Stewart, the entire cast of Today, and the other
finalists.
“I wasn’t really nervous, just mostly excited. Ann was the first to
talk to us,” Shores said. “They showed us a room full of submissions
from the contest.”
Shores will be on Today Thursday, November 5th, and Monday,
November 9th, when the finalists will each report a news story. Judging
will end the following day.
While the contest hasn’t convinced her to become a news anchor,
Shores has taken a liking to the camera.
“I like to do anything to help with my talent,” she said. “I could
do anything, but acting is really cool.”
