By Anne Marie Allocca
Gioia, who moved to Valley Stream last May with her husband Carmine Giglio, a Franklin Square native, won't forget this incredible experience anytime soon. She recounts spending time with Tommy Lee talking about song-writing and music, while each played snippets of songs they were both composing.
"We sat down at the piano at the end of a part in the ballroom," she said. "It was nice to see that other creative side to him. The piece he played for me was really inspiring; it really connected with some of the stuff I had been writing and working on at the mansion. He thought I could write something really pretty so he was teaching it to me so I would remember it and possibly write something."
And she was up for the challenge. Gioia stayed up until the wee hours of the morning adding to Lee's music. "Just to get that opportunity to sit down with somebody like Tommy Lee – there is so much more to him," she said. "People see the rock star tough guy image, but he's really like a big Teddy bear."
Each week, the musicians sing a tune for the band and the viewers vote for their favorites. The bottom three vote-getters have to sing for the band in the hopes of staying on. Lee is the one who delivers the bad news on which contestant gets the ax. Gioia was in the bottom three on two previous occasions, but managed to redeem herself with her vocals, once garnering a standing ovation from Supernova.
"I remember when they saved me," Gioia said. "I was on the verge of tears. I was so emotional for so long. It was just a constant up and down roller-coaster."
The chance to sing with Gilby Clarke was a highlight – one Gioia jumped at during the song selection. "I knew I wanted to take that chance," she said. "I think that says something to be the first person to take a risk like that, especially when I had been in the bottom three. I was already in a vulnerable place. I thought if I do this, it is going to really draw attention, but I didn't go to play it safe."
And although her rendition of the Rolling Stones' hit "Brown Sugar" with Clarke was a hit with the band, once again she landed in the bottom three. And on Aug. 9, after singing Aretha Franklin's "Respect," Gioia didn't survive Lee's ax.
Still, this Stonybrook, Long Island native has no regrets. "I knew going into it that nobody leaving should feel bad," she said. "We're the top 10 out of over 25,000. You can't feel bad because it's nothing personal. It's whoever is going to fit into the mold. One of the reasons I sang 'Respect' was for my dad, but it's also the message the song was singing and how I was feeling at the time. It's okay, but everybody here should be respected. And I think that they are. It's a competition and they have to say what they feel.
"It's such an experience and an amazing thing and I relate to that," Gioia added. "There is this process that you go through. It's your dream. I understand that and for whatever reason, I didn't fit into their thing, but I want to turn it into a positive. I've done all this song-writing and I'm happy to be home working on my stuff. The song I wrote with Tommy, I would love him to sit down and listen to it. It's a beautiful song; I would love to hear what he thinks about it."
And at the finale on Sept. 13, Gioia hopes she still will get the chance.
It's been a long road to this point and Gioia relishes every moment. She's
been writing music since she was in high school, performed in a cover band called Wonderama for years before forming her own band. She's had the chance to open for 98 Degrees and Nick Lachey at the Jones Beach Theatre, opened for Third Eye Blind and then sang back up with them on the David Letterman Show. She can also be heard singing on Kelly Clarkson's latest Ford commercial since Gioia also is a jingle-writer.
In 2000, she nailed the Rock 'n' Sole Band Search sponsored by shoe designer Steve Madden. "I won and from that I was up to my eyeballs in shoes which was awesome. He made a boot with my name – the Jill Joy. I wore them on the show when I did 'Evanescence.' I know they have the new boot out and I would love to wear it for the finale. They've always been really supportive. They had me do some shows at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. It was an event with Steve Madden. He's an awesome person."
The audition process for Rockstar: Supernova began last October. After sending in her original compositions and videotapes, Gioia had a feeling she was going to make the cut. Her husband was touring with the play Movin' Out and was in Baltimore at the time.
"There were big signs on billboards that said 'believe.' Then when I was in Hershey, Pa. visiting my husband, it was the week of my birthday. There was this big barn with 'faith' written on it. I got this phone call that said I was one of the final 50 and going to Hollywood for an audition with the band," remembers Gioia.
She learned she'd be one of the top 15 contestants while Giglio was in Utah, en route to Japan with the tour. "I went to see him for two days and then flew to L.A. It's amazing to replay all these moments back."
The fact that Gioia was able to sing at all is quite amazing. Two years ago she was diagnosed with sarcoidosis, an inflammatory pulmonary disease. "They thought I had cancer," she said. "I was really sick for a long time. I've gone through a whole healing process."
And so the comments from Lee and the band were like music to her ears. "When they say to me 'You're over singing,' or 'You have such a powerful voice,' it's such a compliment for me to hear. I couldn't breathe two years ago. I had surgery and you don't know if this is it for my life."
Ironically, Gioia often sang with a program called Musicians on Call at Sloan Kettering for the children with cancer. She began getting sick and doctors didn't understand why at first, so she stopped. She also has done work for the Heart Association and hopes to now do something to bring attention to this disease, which she admits she'd never heard of before.
"It can come back, but I take good care of myself. The whole thing was life altering and it makes you realize you have to live, love, laugh and perform like it's your last day because you never know what's going to happen. For my husband and I it was the scariest thing. I couldn't believe how sick I was.
"With all of these things I feel like I've been given a second chance at life and my career. When I say to people it's such a blessing, I really mean it. I enjoyed being up there. It's all good. I can't think of negatives. I don't know what impression people got, but I'm a fighter because I fought two years ago for my life. I'm not a quitter and I don't give up. I have to just keep trying so wherever it gets me, I'm a happy person, regardless, just to be here. I got to live my dream on TV."
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