Five Move Forward In First Round
By NICHOLAS L. DEAN
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7/3/2007 - BEMUS POINT — Fans packed the Bemus Point shoreline Monday night as 10 singers kicked off the fourth season of Chautauqua Lake Idol.
A regional vocal competition, Chautauqua Lake Idol was created and is organized each year by WWSE 93.3 FM — a Media One Group radio station.
As the first of two preliminary rounds, only five of the contestants who performed Monday were selected to move forward to ''Disco Night'' on July 23. A second preliminary round with 10 new singers will be held on July 9. Similarly, only five of those performers will make the cut and move on to the first of the contest's three theme nights.
''I think the right people won and are moving on,'' said Tom Torbjornsen, one of the contest's four judges.
Like television's American Idol, half the fun of Chautauqua Lake Idol is hearing each judge's critique of singers and agreeing or disagreeing with their assessment.
Described as Chautauqua Lake Idol's ''Simon Cowell,'' Torbjornsen heard more than his fair share of booing during Monday's two hours. Creator and host of the nationally-acclaimed radio call-in talk program, ''America's Car Show,'' Torbjornsen is Chautauqua Lake Idol's senior judge — having doled out his critical reviews in two previous seasons.
''People see it as harsh, but I'm just trying to be as honest as I possibly can and sometimes people don't agree with the honesty,'' Torbjornsen said after the show. ''I like to be straight up and honest with the people to help them realize where they can better themselves. I mean, there was one gentleman up there whose singing belonged in his truck and not in public. And that's fine. That's okay. We just have to be honest with ourselves, accept our limitations and go with it.''
Not the only voice of criticism, Torbjornsen is joined this year by judges Sarah Malinowski, who is in her second year of judging this season; LouAnn Dobmeier, a first-year judge; and Tim Edborg, who is also new to the judge's table on The Floating Stage.
Following the evening's 10 performances, the four judges selected Andrea Bragg, Parris Williams, Rich Beatty, Lydia Marks and Ashleagh Suber to move forward to the next round of competition.
''I usually just sing for my own self and my friends,'' Bragg said last week. ''I've been singing since I was about 10, in church and in musicals, and I've grown to love it. Music shows every emotion and it inspires. I'm thankful to my mom for making me do this. It's a new experience and it will be fun. Whether I stay in it to the end or not, either way it is going to be a great experience.''
A Frewsburg native, Bragg chose ''Hurt'' by Christina Aguilera for her performance Monday. Williams, a Rochester native attending Gannon University, chose ''Gravity'' by John Mayer. Beatty, a Georgia native and recent Chautauqua County transplant, sang ''Buy Me A Rose'' by Luther Vandross. Lydia Marks, an Erie Native who now lives in Fredonia, chose ''Breathe'' by Faith Hill for her song and Ashleagh Suber, a Jamestown resident and J.C.C. student, sang ''When You Lie Next To Me'' by Kellie Coffee.
'' For the first two weeks, we give them a list of SE93 music,'' said Andrew Hill, Media One Group program manager and host of the event. ''And some of them honestly go 'Ugh, I don't want to sing this.' So right off the bat, some of these people have to really change what they think is music and do our music.''
Though all the performers were received well by the Bemus Point audience, Josh Monroe, Amara Offhaus, Jake Harvey, April DiTonto and Kim Danna were not selected to move forward in the competition.
Chautauqua Lake Idol takes place on six Monday nights over the course of eight weeks this year. With the first preliminary round, only five Mondays remain. On July 9, the second preliminary night will be held at The Floating Stage. After a week break, Chautauqua Lake Idol will return to Bemus Point with ''Disco Night'' on July 23, a ''Christmas in July'' event on July 30 and a ''Remember When...'' theme night on Aug. 6. The final night of competition is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 20, where one winner will be chosen from three finalists.
''They sing and some will be on their game and some will be off and we will pick them out,'' Torbjornsen said of the contest's future nights. ''I like competition. I think it's good for the community. I like to see people display their talents and I like to see people come out together for such a community event like this. It's a great venue, it's fun and it showcases the talent that is in this county.''
Chautauqua Lake Idol events begin at 6:30 p.m. and typically run two hours. Singers scheduled to perform as part of round two on July 9 are Aletha Walters, Jeff Sanders, Amanda Oleshak, Katie Jacobs, Ben Blood, Jaala Fish, Eric Schwob, Michael Valvo, Stephanie Blake and Margaret Dickerson.
Send comments to ndean@post-journal.com.
A regional vocal competition, Chautauqua Lake Idol was created and is organized each year by WWSE 93.3 FM — a Media One Group radio station.
As the first of two preliminary rounds, only five of the contestants who performed Monday were selected to move forward to ''Disco Night'' on July 23. A second preliminary round with 10 new singers will be held on July 9. Similarly, only five of those performers will make the cut and move on to the first of the contest's three theme nights.
''I think the right people won and are moving on,'' said Tom Torbjornsen, one of the contest's four judges.
Like television's American Idol, half the fun of Chautauqua Lake Idol is hearing each judge's critique of singers and agreeing or disagreeing with their assessment.
Described as Chautauqua Lake Idol's ''Simon Cowell,'' Torbjornsen heard more than his fair share of booing during Monday's two hours. Creator and host of the nationally-acclaimed radio call-in talk program, ''America's Car Show,'' Torbjornsen is Chautauqua Lake Idol's senior judge — having doled out his critical reviews in two previous seasons.
''People see it as harsh, but I'm just trying to be as honest as I possibly can and sometimes people don't agree with the honesty,'' Torbjornsen said after the show. ''I like to be straight up and honest with the people to help them realize where they can better themselves. I mean, there was one gentleman up there whose singing belonged in his truck and not in public. And that's fine. That's okay. We just have to be honest with ourselves, accept our limitations and go with it.''
Not the only voice of criticism, Torbjornsen is joined this year by judges Sarah Malinowski, who is in her second year of judging this season; LouAnn Dobmeier, a first-year judge; and Tim Edborg, who is also new to the judge's table on The Floating Stage.
Following the evening's 10 performances, the four judges selected Andrea Bragg, Parris Williams, Rich Beatty, Lydia Marks and Ashleagh Suber to move forward to the next round of competition.
''I usually just sing for my own self and my friends,'' Bragg said last week. ''I've been singing since I was about 10, in church and in musicals, and I've grown to love it. Music shows every emotion and it inspires. I'm thankful to my mom for making me do this. It's a new experience and it will be fun. Whether I stay in it to the end or not, either way it is going to be a great experience.''
A Frewsburg native, Bragg chose ''Hurt'' by Christina Aguilera for her performance Monday. Williams, a Rochester native attending Gannon University, chose ''Gravity'' by John Mayer. Beatty, a Georgia native and recent Chautauqua County transplant, sang ''Buy Me A Rose'' by Luther Vandross. Lydia Marks, an Erie Native who now lives in Fredonia, chose ''Breathe'' by Faith Hill for her song and Ashleagh Suber, a Jamestown resident and J.C.C. student, sang ''When You Lie Next To Me'' by Kellie Coffee.
'' For the first two weeks, we give them a list of SE93 music,'' said Andrew Hill, Media One Group program manager and host of the event. ''And some of them honestly go 'Ugh, I don't want to sing this.' So right off the bat, some of these people have to really change what they think is music and do our music.''
Though all the performers were received well by the Bemus Point audience, Josh Monroe, Amara Offhaus, Jake Harvey, April DiTonto and Kim Danna were not selected to move forward in the competition.
Chautauqua Lake Idol takes place on six Monday nights over the course of eight weeks this year. With the first preliminary round, only five Mondays remain. On July 9, the second preliminary night will be held at The Floating Stage. After a week break, Chautauqua Lake Idol will return to Bemus Point with ''Disco Night'' on July 23, a ''Christmas in July'' event on July 30 and a ''Remember When...'' theme night on Aug. 6. The final night of competition is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 20, where one winner will be chosen from three finalists.
''They sing and some will be on their game and some will be off and we will pick them out,'' Torbjornsen said of the contest's future nights. ''I like competition. I think it's good for the community. I like to see people display their talents and I like to see people come out together for such a community event like this. It's a great venue, it's fun and it showcases the talent that is in this county.''
Chautauqua Lake Idol events begin at 6:30 p.m. and typically run two hours. Singers scheduled to perform as part of round two on July 9 are Aletha Walters, Jeff Sanders, Amanda Oleshak, Katie Jacobs, Ben Blood, Jaala Fish, Eric Schwob, Michael Valvo, Stephanie Blake and Margaret Dickerson.
Send comments to ndean@post-journal.com.
For more information on Chautauqua Lake Real Estate & Living visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com
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