Elijah Kelley got the best birthday present he could have asked for Sunday at Callaway Stadium: everyone loved his new music.

The actor and performer headlined a “back to school bash” at the stadium that brought local and nationally known talent to the stage in front of a crowd that spread out between the 20- and 40-yard lines.

“This is the beginning of what I think will be big,” said the LaGrange native, who said he wanted to spend his 24th birthday with his hometown fans.

He stayed after the program to sign autographs.

“We have humble beginnings, but the next time we do this it’ll be filled to the other end of Callaway Stadium,” Kelley said to cheers.

Kelley, who has been working on an album in actor/recording artist Will Smith’s studio, said he wanted to debut the music in LaGrange, even though he admitted earlier this week to being nervous.

“I wanted to start it right here,” he told the crowd. “If it doesn’t work here, I’ll go back and try it again.”

Kelley sang two original songs, “You’re the One” and “Soul Mate,” complete with a backflip and a split on stage. He also sang “Amazing Grace,” because “you all know I come from church,” he said.

Kelley also played video greetings from stars like Ne-Yo and Amanda Bynes, who wished the star a happy birthday and encouraged Troup County students to do well in school.

“Never ever stop believing, because I am you,” Ne-Yo said.

Kelley offered the same encouragement.

“I see so much potential in you all,” he said. “I was on this field (as a Troup High School student). I was a mascot on this field. Now I am the mascot for ‘anything is possible.’ We don’t have to be crabs in a barrel. We can be sharks in a pond.”

The 2005 Troup High graduate and star of the movie “Hairspray” brought some familiar names to LaGrange, along with local performers and speakers.

Monique Coleman, star of the “High School Musical” movies, helped emcee Jack Morman introduce the “hometown heroes” nominated to participate in a proposed reality show Kelley is producing.

Nominated were:

— Angeline Brooks and Mary Jane Cleaveland, who established a GED program at Twin Fountains Nursing Home,

— Michael Fannin, who has organized a free haircut and school supply drive Aug. 15 at Griggs Recreation Center,

— David Singley, a retired coach and teacher,

— Ed Smith, retired Troup County schools superintendent,

— David Tenney, an Iraq War veteran,

— Renae Willis, chairwoman of the LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce Excellence in Education committee,

— Robert Young, a local karate instructor, and

— Chelsea Pike, a rising Troup High senior who has persevered in the face of surgery for brain tumors.

Coleman credited her own teachers and mentors in her hometown of Columbia, S.C.

“Where you come from is so important,” she said. “It’s those teachers and mentors who shaped my life.”

Jennifer Shrader can be reached at jshrader@lagrangenews.com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 236.