 The national competition sponsored by Logan Lanes in concert with
The Lighting Store of Newton, Iowa, is exclusive to bowling centers
that provide karaoke activities. Nationwide there are 288 centers
that will send one contestant to Las Vegas, Nev., for a grand finale
competition June 22. In the state of Illinois, Logan Lanes is one of
only five bowling centers participating.Saturday night ended 16
weeks of contests and yielded a total of 27 finalists.
According to Logan Lanes owner Shawn Taylor, seven finalists
opted out of the last competition. He said that it is a big
commitment. The one who wins will spend a hard week in Vegas as
contestants vie for the championship, and the overall winner stays
on to do an opening performance for a major Vegas act to be
announced later.
The 20 who participated were Michael Anderson, Carrie Joy
Andreas, Shaun Cook, Michell Dehner, Cris Dye, Dave Eryse, Julie
Gentry, Travis Hatfield, Jason Hilton, Travis Ingram, Melvin Martin,
Sheryl Nalley, Kim Newman, Erica O'Neill, Alyssa Page, Liz Skelton,
Beth Ann Sweirkosz, Brooke Trickey, Mary Work and Donna Wright
The competition was judged by eight individuals: Rick and Cyndi
Campbell of Spotlight Entertainment in Lincoln; Scott Woger from the
faculty of Lincoln College; David Swaar and Kim Peterson-Quinn, both
of the Lincoln Community High School Music Department; Tom and
Brittney McLaughlin of Decatur; and Richard "Rick" Lee, one of this
year's finalists who opted out of the final competition.
Judges were given tally sheets for each of the 20 and instructed
to judge on vocal ability, song delivery, showmanship and crowd
response.
While every singer was uniquely talented in their own right, at
the end of round one, only five could move on to perform a second
time.
Those five were Michael Anderson, Carrie Joy Andreas, Travis
Hatfield, Jason Hilton and Alyssa Page.
In the first round Michael Anderson sang Brooks & Dunn's
"Believe." In an emotional rendition of a country favorite, he sang,
"I raise my hands, bow my head / I'm finding more and more truth in
the words written in red / They tell me that there's more to life
than just what I can see / Oh, I believe," and the crowd rewarded
his efforts with a tremendous outburst of applause.
In the second round he sang "I'm Changing" and was clearly the
fan favorite, as the crowd cheered, clapped and generally raised the
roof for this local competitor.
Carrie Joy Andreas of Edwardsville began the night by belting out
a flawless rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."
For her final song she chose Martina McBride's "Broken Wing,"
hitting and holding high notes that would have been the envy of any
"American Idol" contestant, then dropping to a low, guttural voice
that brought roars and applause from the entire audience.
Travis Hatfield in the first round sang David Cook's "This is the
Time of My Life." The crowd cheered and clapped as he hit the climax
of the song in grandiose David Cook fashion -- high, clear and
precise -- then ended in soft, mellow tones.
For his second round of competition, he sang a perfect rendition
of Dobie Gray's "Give Me the Beat, Boys." Choosing a song that has
remained a music mainstay since the early '70s and has been recorded
by multiple artists, Hatfield called out the crowd: "I know you all
know this song! Sing it with me," and the audience was happy to
oblige.
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Jason Hilton of Mason City was the evening's only "rocker." In
typical punk rocker, head-banger fashion, he commanded the stage,
with rapid head swings, drops to his knees and outrageous dance
moves.
As he belted out his first song, "The Dark Side," by John
Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band, Jason got the audience's full
attention as they clapped in rhythm to the music.
For his second performance he chose "All Apologies," by
Yellowcard, and literally put the audience on their feet as they
tried to keep up with the rocker's use of every inch of the stage
area for his performance.
Alyssa Page brought down the house with her rendition of Reba
McEntire's "Why Haven't I Heard From You" as her first-round song.
In typical Reba fashion, she moved about the stage, seemingly
scolding every man in the audience for not making that call.
For her second appearance she did a lesser-known piece from the
Miranda Lambert 2007 album "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," entitled
"Gunpowder and Lead." The song carried an old-time country beat that
had the audience tapping their toes.
When the second round was completed and the judge's scores were
tallied, Taylor made the final announcement. He said that the scores
were all very close, including a tie for second place, which was
settled by considering previous scores.
He also said that places one through five were all very important
because if the winner could not commit to the week in Las Vegas, the
prize would go to the second-place winner. If they couldn't compete,
then it would go to third place, and so on.
Beginning with fifth place, Taylor called each one to the stage:
fifth place, Jason Hilton; fourth, Travis Hatfield; the tie
involving Michael Anderson and Alyssa Page left Anderson in third,
while Page took the second spot; and the overall winner for the
evening was Carrie Joy Andreas.
The first-place winner will receive airfare to Las Vegas and
motel accommodations at the Plaza.
Once there, the contestants will be divided into groups of 20 and
commence a graduated elimination process that is expected to last
three full days.
The ultimate winner in Vegas will receive a $5,000 cash prize, a
chance to record a music CD and will be the opening performance for
a major Las Vegas act. [By NILA
SMITH]
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