Hanover Idols hopefuls display a wealth of talent
February 21, 2008
By Bill Doran (Herald Progress)
The Hanover Arts and
Activities Center was hopping Sunday night.
Kellie West is Hanover Idol 2008. Ryan Gary was named Junior Idol. (H-P
Photo by Bill Doran)
Over 200 people were in attendance at the sold-out Hanover Idols Competition. The entertainment was out of this world and almost every style of music was represented from rock, to country, to show tunes.
The evening kicked off with Rebecca Culley singing "If I Ain't Got You" by Alicia Keys. Culley's soulful version of the song was fantastic. It would not be beyond anyone's imagination to see her at a future Grammy Awards program singing a digitized duet with Frank Sinatra.
Next up was the boot-scooting Lisa Williams who sung Sugarlands' "Stay." The song was one of the rockingest country songs of the night. Williams really caught the spirit of Sugarland.
Anyone who saw last year's Idol can't forget Max Cook. He was one of two junior contestants in this year's show. This year he rocked out to "Sweet Child of Mine" by Guns and Roses. Max rocked the house and was accompanied by his Uncle Tony on guitar.
Sarah Johnson sang "You Can't Hurry Love." Although she credited the Dixie Chicks, if you closed your eyes you heard Diana Ross and the Supremes. Johnson was fresh off her honeymoon cruise where she won second place in a competition called Destiny's Idol.
Carrie Cauthorne, sung the most beautiful rendition of "Over the Rainbow" at her audition, and topped that performance by singing "Falling" by Alicia Keys at the competition. Cauthorne's audience has always been her four children she sings to every night, and they were front and center for their mom's amazing performance.
The next three performances rolled along as Nicole Kirkwood sung "Ordinary Day" by Vanessa Carlton, Walker Wilson, Jr. sang a little known Lionel Ritchie song, "Jesus is Love," and Kenan Seither attempted "The Sound of Music" from the Broadway show.
The highlight of the night came next. Kellie West did Reba McEntire's "Why Haven't I Heard You." From the first note she had the audience in the palm of her hand. This was by far the best all around performance. West was so full of charisma and personality, a true performer. If the audience wasn't awake before this, they came alive clapping along with her performance.
The second "Junior Idol" performed next. Ryan Gary, a student at Liberty Middle School did her best to sing the very difficult Carrie Underwood song, "Jesus Take the Wheel." Although the song was a little too much for her young range, she made up the difference in personality.
The second best performance of the night, in this writer's estimation, was Jennifer Lauren Niess. Niess is a self-proclaimed lounge singer. She was another contestant who amazed the judges at the auditions, and outdid that performance for the competition. She sang Patsy Cline's "Crazy." Her personality just shines with every song she sings.
The final five then took the stage. Heather Mentz sings in her choir at church and sang Homeward bound. Lauren Richardson who has sung at friends' and family's weddings sang "Crazy." Julie Ross Gates did "Power of Love." Rhiannon Harris sang the Elvis classic, "Can't Help Falling in Love."
Bridgett Johnson finished the evening up. Johnson has only recently started back to singing after giving it up for 17 years. If the other entertainers didn't wake the audience, Johnson's over-the-top performance certainly did.
As the judges retired to their chambers to make their decisions the audience was entertained. Sue Watson brought out a 150th anniversary cake while last year's idol, Patrick Warren sang Happy Birthday. Then Fred Horn, who accompanied many of the performers on the piano broke into a slew of television and movie theme songs.
Then the moment everyone was waiting for, the judge's decisions.
This year the judges decided to award in two categories, Junior Idol and Hanover Idol. First up was the Junior Idol category, Max Cook took first runner-up and Ryan Gary won.
"I have been singing since the second grade, I am in sixth grade now," said Gary. "I have been singing in the talent shows and at church. I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to do some more things with my singing. I am looking forward to singing at the events all year."
As the only guy in the competition, Walker Wilson, Jr. was announced as first runner-up. Then the faith in the judges was restored as Kellie West was crowned Hanover Idol 2008.
West, who lives in Mechanicsville is a second-year student at VCU, studying Interior Design. "I have been singing since I was 2 years old, mostly just in church," said West. "I have always loved that song by Reba. It is such a fun song. I had a few songs to pick from and when everyone heard me do this one they said I had to do it for Hanover Idol. I am so looking forward to performing throughout the year."
"I think this was a great success," said co-organizer, Sue Watson. "I cannot believe we have so much talent in Hanover County. The voices, the way people sold their songs, they had the audience's full attention, and really entertained."
The next Hanover Idols will be held in 2010. "What we figured out was, it would be better to do this in the even years," said Watson. "So this way it can be a major focus unto itself. This way we can have one major musical event each year, the variety show in the odd years and the Hanover Idols in the even ones."
"We did this last year in conjunction with the variety show and it was very tough," agreed co-organizer Lorie Foley.