Fry wins national Internet talent contest

HUNTINGTON -- If at first you don't succeed, try, try again -- and walk away with $10,000.

Huntington native and Christian recording artist Nick Fry got an accidental entry in worldwide talent competition "FameCast" and ended up winning the whole thing -- just one year after finishing in the Top 5.

"My video got left up on the site, and I was automatically entered again, so I decided to go for it. As fate would have it, I guess I was supposed to enter. This time, it paid off," said Fry, whose songs "It's All For You" and "Over and Over" won over the Internet crowd who voted.

The FameCast Web site is an online artist discovery engine that collects, ranks and serves up the best emerging artists in a wide selection of genres. Fry, a Vinson High School graduate, said he draws from real-life experiences, hurts and happiness as he's writing his tunes. A wide audience base -- from teenagers to the 60-plus crowd -- reaffirm to Fry that his brand of music is touching people's hearts.

Because of his FameCast win, Fry is taking home $10,000, major industry exposure and is featured on the back cover of this month's Billboard Magazine with other FameCast finalists.

"I thought they would call me and tell me if I had won or not, and I was out at a restaurants and had no cell signal, but I started getting these texts and e-mails with parts of them saying, 'I knew you could do it' and 'Congratulations,' but I had to see it for myself on the Web when I got home. I wasn't going to take anybody's word for it," Fry said.

Locally, Fry is planning a CD release concert for his latest work "Paint Me Away" at 7 p.m. tonight at Cross Pointe Community Church.

As for plans to spend his winnings, Fry is taking a very rational approach.

"Right now, I'm just going to put it in the bank and think about what I need to do with it. I don't want to make any rash decisions," he said. "With the CD coming out, there are some expenses there, and I want to do some advertising."

For more information, visit www. nickfry.com.