Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson both made appearances last Thursday night, at least in musical form, at the third annual Mizzou Idol competition.
MU held its very own edition of the hit television show “American Idol,” Thursday at the Missouri Theatre in downtown Columbia.
A plethora of songs ranging from an acoustic guitar rendition of “Billie Jean” to the resurrection of “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley marked this year’s competition.
Returning as host this year was radio station personality Cosmo from Y107/106.9. In the tradition of “American Idol” there were judges to weigh in their opinions, many of which have notable reputations in the city of Columbia. Last year’s Mizzou Idol Alyssa Kelly served as judge, as well as returning judge Pete McDevitt from The Blue Note, to name a few.
McDevitt has the reputation of being “brutal” and many of the people who attended last year “called him Simon,” junior Innocent Okechukwu said.
Sixteen hopeful contestants participated, consisting of six wildcard contestants and 10 finalists that auditioned before the event Thursday.
One of the emcees of the night, sophomore Tre Spearman, said some of the traits Mizzou Idol looks for in a contestant are a “voice, strong personality, stage presence, the whole package,” in the audition process.
The wildcard round kicked it off with back-to-back, 30-second a cappella performances to see who would join the 10 finalists in the top 12. Wildcard Josh Cherry said he prepared for the event by practicing a “solid hour a day.” That practice paid off, sending Cherry through to the top 12. The two wildcard contestants that advanced on to a top 12 spot were chosen by the audience on a text-to-vote format. Along with Cherry, a finalist from the previous year, Symonne Sparks advanced on.
The top 12 round consisted of both multiple technical difficulties and dance moves. Finalists performed a full song of their choice, both entertaining the audience and performing through these technical difficulties. Instead of the audience deciding who would move on into a top five spot, the judges chose, causing some uproar in the audience.
The top five finalists sang a full song of their choice in their last attempt to showcase their talent. These finalists included Brooke Burchill, Savannah Givens, Zach Gray, Symonne Sparks and Abbey Tingle. While the judges deliberated on who would be given the title of Mizzou Idol, audience members voted for their fan favorite. Josh Cherry was named fan favorite, Savannah Givens came in second place and wildcard Symonne Sparks was named Mizzou Idol 2012. In true “Idol” tradition, Sparks belted one final song to end the night.
“(The event) was good, but there weren’t that many blow-out-of-the-water performances,” Okechukwu said. “Everyone here sounded like a singer, they didn’t have the ‘it’ factor. Savannah edged Symonne in the second round, but Symonne sung well enough for no one to demand results,” he said.
For all aspiring to compete in the competition one day, Cherry explained what it takes to be the next Mizzou Idol.
“Don’t be afraid, everyone gets nervous, you have to be confident,” he said.
