BYU coeds hold onto LDS standards on 'The Sing-Off'

PROVO — It helped Laina Walker and Amy Whitcomb of Delilah immensely to have BYU's Vocal Point guys just down the hall in the hotel during the taping for NBC's reality show, "The Sing-Off."

They could go with them to church and rely on them for the strength of the priesthood held by faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

When Whitcomb got very sick just before the taping of week six of "The Sing-Off," five of the LDS male singers came together to give her a blessing.

When the two Mormon women began to feel overwhelmed by the immensity and the pressure of working 24/7 to produce vocal numbers that would impress both the national television audience and the celebrity judges, they spent a few minutes with the guys they knew shared their dreams and values, and it helped them feel better.

"Basically we were just kind of thrown into the real world, out of our BYU bubble, and I realize more what a bubble that is," said Whitcomb. "There was a lot of swearing, a lot of vulgarity."

"When I came back to Provo, it was like a culture shock," Walker said. "Sometimes in L.A., I was the only person sober. It was one of those lifelong lessons come true. You don't make other people's choices but you can make your own," she said. She is majoring in music, dance and theater at Brigham Young University in her junior year.

It was really nice to share the same standards as Vocal Point, Walker said. "It was amazing. They had it in their contract that they could go to church and not rehearse on Sundays, so we would go to church, take the sacrament and have family prayer."

And it didn't take long for the other contestant groups to notice they didn't join in the swearing or the drinking and the partying.

The other members of Delilah became their fast friends and supporters of their ideals.

The costumers soon learned to back off when Whitcomb and Walker asked for tights or a longer skirt or a jacket.

"Most of the time they were aware of our standards," Whitcomb said. "They knew I liked to keep my shoulders covered."

Whitcomb said the added benefit of being dressed modestly meant she was comfortable on stage. "That shows," she said.

Walker said she would have preferred not to be costumed in sequins or in pink and red since she's a redhead and those are not her best colors, but she quickly learned to pick her battles.