After sleeping in a Las Vegas VIP Suite with a pool for a balcony, adjusting to life home in Renton has been like stepping out of a movie.

However, the EriAm Sisters, who found national fame in the semi-final rounds of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” are happy to be home.

“It’s cool to be back to normal life,” said 16-year-old Lianda Abraham, the older sister of Salina, 14, and Haben, 12.

The show marks more than a highlight of their bright singing careers; it has been a turning point of experience and a crash-course in video production.

Entering the NBC contest in June, the sisters spent the summer in unexpected fame. In a trip to Washington, D.C., the girls found themselves cheered on by metro bus drivers and almost pulled off the stage by excited fans.

Though cut just before the Top 10 round “America’s Got Talent,” they returned home as heroes, receiving the key to the city.

For the girls, being honored by the city was the height of their summer.

“It means so much,” said father Mulugheta Abraham, who fought the show to announce the girls were from Renton, not Seattle. “I’ve never seen them that emotional,” he said of the ceremony.

The girls returned home a week after school started but not to star-struck friends.

“Renton has been really, really good for the girls,” Mulugheta said.

The competition wasn’t all glory. The girls worked hard.

About a week before the shows, the family flew to Hollywood and Las Vegas to start the labor-intensive process of perfecting their performances.

“They push you to do a lot in a little time,” Salina said.

The girls started with a list of 40 songs they were interested in performing.

Then lawyers removed songs for copyright issues, before the family chose from the remaining list.

“The song selection makes or breaks the deal,” Mulugheta said.

The song is then “butchered” down to a minute and a half, he said, and choreographers work with the girls to develop a dance in a private hotel ballroom.

“You have to look at ways to connect to the audience and they’re on TV,” said Haben, who made the Maury Show’s “Most Talented Kids” episode at age 10.

After choosing “Crazy in Love” by Beyonce for their Hollywood performance, the girls had to learn the choreography in two days, and there was the added twist of three backup dancers on bicycles.

“It was definitely the craziest performance,” Lianda said.

In addition to the dance moves and perfecting a harmony, the girls had to memorize when to look at different cameras.

“It’s perfectly choreographed,” Mulugheta said. “There was not a lot of practice rehearsal.”

Before the girls went on stage, the judges routinely gave pep talks, offering words of encouragement.

“They’re exactly as they are on TV,” Haben said.

During performances the height of anxiety varied for each sister.

For Lianda it was watching the microphones come up from the stage, and for Haben it was being behind the screen separated from her sisters, waiting for the doors to open.

“It’s so emotional going up,” Salina said. “We learned to deal with stress.”

By time the girls were cut, their competitors had become close friends.

“I think we were sad about all the people we were leaving,” Lianda said.

The family had mixed emotions about their last song choice, “When You Believe,” by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.

“It was not the song that shows these girls,” Mulugheta said.

The song was slow, not typical of a group that does well with upbeat music.

Though the feeling wasn’t mutual.

“I don’t regret anything we did,” Salina said.

Getting cut wasn’t the end of their relationship with NBC.

The network has a few months to call them back for performances and even an album deal.

If they don’t sign with NBC, there is a good chance another studio will be interested in offering an album deal, Mulugheta said. “We just have to wait it out.”

The girls finished an album just as they were selected for the show, and chose to hold the release until they see what happens with NBC.

“We did not expect it at all,” Salina said of getting on the show.

In addition to learning about choreography and stage performance, the girls were also able to work with a voice coach on their harmony.

“We’ve improved a lot since a year ago,” Salina said. “We’ve learned more about our style of singing.”

The girls are expecting to re-record their album.

However, they did release a single in April 2009 titled “My BFF.”

For now they’re catching up from about a week of missed classes.

Haben attends Dimmitt Middle School, while Lianda and Salina attend Seattle’s Aviation High School, which specializes in math and science.

At their home in Renton, Salina picked through strands of hair looking for split ends, while the teens sunk into the family room sofa.

They had just come home from school. Lianda’s hand was covered in notes written in marker, “I miss it,” she said.