Page "Doris Day" Paragraph 6

While recovering, Day started to sing along with the radio and discovered a talent that she didn't know she had.

Day said: " During this long, boring period, I used to while away a lot of time listening to the radio, sometimes singing along with the likes of Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller [...].

But the one radio voice I listened to above others belonged to Ella Fitzgerald.

There was a quality to her voice that fascinated me, and I'd sing along with her, trying to catch the subtle ways she shaded her voice, the casual yet clean way she sang the words.

" Observing her daughter rekindled Alma's interest in show business, and she decided to give Doris singing lessons.

She engaged a teacher, Grace Raine.

After three lessons, Raine told Alma that Doris had " tremendous potential ", which led Alma to give her daughter three lessons a week for the price of one.

Years later, Day said that Raine had the biggest effect on her singing style and career.

During the eight months of singing lessons, Day had her first professional jobs as a vocalist in the WLW radio program, Carlin's Carnival and in a local restaurant, the Charlie Yee's Shanghai Inn.

It was during her performances in the carnival that Day first caught the attention of Barney Rapp, who sought a girl vocalist and asked if Day would like to audition for the job.

According to Day, Rapp had auditioned two hundred vocalists when she got the job.

It was while working for Rapp in 1939 that she adopted the stage name " Day " as an alternative to " Kappelhoff ," at his suggestion.

Rapp felt her surname was too long for marquees.

The first song she had performed for him was " Day After Day ", thus the origin of her stage name.