A MOMENT CAPTURED: Getting ready for his dream

Tiffany Brown

Sunday, Nov. 11, 2007 | 8:05 a.m.

It's another night of work for Tim Tracey and the four other stars of the Country Superstars Tribute show at the Fitzgeralds show room in downtown Las Vegas.

Tuesday night was the cast's 100th show, but for Tracey every night seems like opening night.

"I get real nervous," he said. "It's all I've ever wanted to do. You want (the audience) to enjoy what you do, so of course I'm gonna be nervous."

Standing in the narrow corridor, a converted kitchen with a black drape between the stage's lights and the backstage, Tracey takes deep, visible breaths to calm down. Backstage rituals help ease the nervousness - praying and lifting weights to burn up excess energy. His hands are now steady to hold the microphone firmly. A glance in the mirror checks the cowboy hat expertly placed over his sandy blond ear-length wig. Finally, there's an all-important knuckle bump with Dave Hoover, who looks his part as Tim McGraw.

At the exact right second, Tracey emerges onstage as Toby Keith, and the crowd erupts when he belts out Keith's popular "Who's Your Daddy."

"I've always wanted to be an entertainer, but I was always too afraid to perform in front of people. Then about seven years ago I finally got the nerve to sing karaoke and I just loved doing it," Tracey said earlier as he prepared to trade his day-shift uniform as a blackjack dealer for his performer get-up.

Tracey - whose real name is Tim Marcaurele - used to sing karaoke in Texas, where he spent a dozen years as a policeman and another four managing a strip club. He decided to follow his dream to Las Vegas in November 2004.

He has been performing for a year and a half, but he still gets butterflies every night before throwing back that black drape and stepping into the spotlight.

"I spent most of my life very uptight, very mean looking," he said. "When I go out on that stage you don't see that at all and that really makes me feel real good about myself. I just go out there and start smiling.

"It's because it's a dream. Even though its a small show room, this is my dream come true."