the event called for two songs to be performed. the first song was only piano and vocal. she walked out on stage with her eyes closed, rehearsing what she had prepared. paula was a little bit nervous but was very excited. then she sat on the chair. with determination and "feeling", this girl performed the first few notes ... and nothing. the piano did not work. she felt like crying, she had no idea what to do, she could not believe what was happening. on the day of the contest the piano had decided to quit. paula was just about to give up when she though maybe somehow they forgot to turn it on, remembered just in time that there was a power switch. "i reached over and switched it on and i had such an emotional start that it improved my "performance", i made it through and i won the most important award in my life."