“I’ve been singing my whole life,” says Kelly LaVigna, who has performed throughout South Jersey for several years now, going back to her days studying music as a teen at Montclair State University.

With a resume that includes professional backup singing and winning the Apollo Theater’s amateur night not once, but six times in a row, she proves you don’t need to tune into commercial television to see a great entertainer.

Like many other artists, it’s the love of performing that keeps LaVigna going back for more.

“There’s nothing like seeing people responding to you jamming on stage,” she says.