Musical P.E.I. twins compete in new Nickelodeon show
Ava and Lily Rashed will have an interesting answer if they're asked what they did for summer vacation when they start high school next week.
The 15-year-old P.E.I. twins had an adventure on their summer break. They were invited to Hollywood to compete on a brand new reality show from Nickelodeon called America's Most Musical Family.
The twins travelled to Los Angeles along with their family, which includes their musical dad, David Rashed of Haywire.
"Our dad did get to play with us, he got to play bass for one of the songs," Ava said, but he didn't get to perform with them on stage for the show.
The twins had a performance a couple of days before the TV studio reached out.
"We decided last minute to post a cover on our Instagram," Ava said.
In one of the comments, a casting director for Nickelodeon posted.
"She was really interested in us," Ava said.
Thought it was a prank
Lily said she couldn't believe they were asked to compete on the show — initially she thought it was a prank.
"It's just such a big thing that we were wondering 'how can they do this on Instagram,''' Lily said.
The video the twins posted to Instagram got the attention of the show, but Ava said after that, the twins sent videos and pictures and Nickelodeon representatives interviewed them both.
"Our mom got a phone call later that night and she was asleep so she didn't pick it up," Ava said.
When she told the girls about the message left on her voicemail they started "freaking out," Lily said.
"We practised for a solid month. Just the songs that we chose to perform on the show," Ava said.
They flew out of Charlottetown at 4:30 a.m. to catch a flight from Toronto to Hollywood — Ava with a guitar on her back and Lily with a fiddle.
Both said stepping off the plane in L.A. was an amazing feeling.
Tough competition
The Rashed family competed against 29 other families for the title of America's most musical family.
"It was such an amazing experience and all the other families were so nice. We got to make a lot of new friendships," Ava said.
It was nerve-racking, but we both felt really confident about our performance. — Lily Rashed
When they arrived at the studio in Hollywood the twins said they didn't know what to expect.
"One of the families already got cut and we didn't know that it was like this pre-audition," Lily said.
"When we heard that we were still there and we were going to make it on the show, we were like 'oh that's awesome.'"
Lily said she and Ava had to get on a big stage and perform in front of judges and a large audience.
"It was nerve-racking, but we both felt really confident about our performance so we just went on and we were like 'OK.' I was like to Ava 'we have to go on and do our thing and we will see what happens,'" Lily said.
The audience helped judges decide who moved forward, Ava said.
Among the stars
The judges for the show are Ciara, Debbie Gibson and David Dobrik, she said.
Ava said they met and worked with lots of people in the entertainment industry.
"We got to work with a producer, Rob Lewis, who works with Christina Aguilera and the Backstreet Boys," Ava said.
The pair even worked with a former choreographer for Micheal Jackson, Ava said.
The twins can't talk about how they did on the show because it doesn't air until early November, but both said it's a hard thing not to talk about.
"It's so hard because everyone has their own questions and we want to tell everyone, but we can't," Lily said.
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