Northern Star finalists chosen in regional contest
JORDAN BUCKLEY, 12, of Westfield, was one of the audience favorites in the Feb. 12 central Aroostook competition of Northern Star, a fund-raiser for the United Way of Aroostook designed to find the best area vocalist. She impressed the audience with her performance of “Just a Dream,” originally performed by Carrie Underwood. Buckley will now compete in the Northern Star finale, which will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 28 at the Caribou Performing Arts Center.
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – While the lights of the Presque Isle Middle School auditorium stage were bright Feb. 12, they paled in comparison to the beaming faces of the three regional winners of the Northern Star competition – Jordan Buckley, Lance Albair and Alyson Michaud.
Seventeen singers from central Aroostook and Victoria County, N.B. went head-to-head in the local showdown – the second of three regional performances – to find the area’s top vocalist. The three local winners advance to Sunday’s finale at the Caribou Performing Arts Center where they and the three regional finalists from the southern Aroostook show and the three from the northern Aroostook competition will vie for the title of “Northern Star,” formerly “Aroostook Idol.”
The evening’s judges, who offered constructive and sometimes humorous comments throughout the night, were former Aroostook Idol winners Annie Charles (2007) of Limestone, Samantha Boutot (2006) of Fort Kent, and Scott Voisine, dean of students at the University of Maine at Fort Kent. The top two audience favorites and a third wild-card pick selected by the judges advanced to the finale.
Buckley, 12, of Westfield, sang “Just a Dream,” originally performed by Carrie Underwood. She was one of the top audience vote-getters.
“I am so proud of you,” said Charles. “The first time I heard you I loved you, but tonight you were awesome. Can I give you a hug?”
“That was drop dead phenomenal,” said Voisine. “You look fantastic, you’ve got stage presence, and lungs like I’ve never heard. It was just top-notch.”
Albair, of Woodland, performed “Hallelujah,” originally recorded by Leonard Cohen.
“Hallelujah,” said Charles. “Boy you were good. I loved it.”
“Wow. You had so much feeling; you were going to make us cry,” Boutot said of the second audience favorite. “That was amazing; great job.”
Voisine also had high praise for Albair.
“You ended what could possibly be one of the best shows I’ve ever judged with a soft, calm, beautiful, heartfelt song,” he said. “It was absolutely point-on perfection.”
Caribou’s Michaud, who sang “City” by Sara Bareilles, got the judges’ nod to earn the wild-card pick.
“That was absolutely flawless,” said Boutot. “You are phenomenal; I feel like I was watching something from a concert … you’re great. You captivated your audience. I had a hard time writing because I was just so into it.”
“I’ll keep this short and sweet,” said Voisine. “Quite possibly the first Northern Star.”
Also competing in the central Aroostook show were:
• Yvette Stephens of Presque Isle, “Superstar” by The Carpenters.
• Todd Corey of Mars Hill, “It’s Only Make Believe” by Conway Twitty.
• Karina Patterson of Caribou, “Jesus Take the Wheel” by Carrie Underwood.
• Bryan Morgan of Limestone, “Let Her Cry” by Hootie and the Blowfish.
• Mallory Parsons of Tilley, N.B., “Perfectly” by Huckapoo.
• Larry Berz of Limestone, “Music of the Night” by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
• Kassidy Morin of California Settlement, N.B., “Wagon Wheel” by Matt Anderson.
• Dan Rooney of Presque Isle, “Shoulda Been a Cowboy” by Toby Keith.
• Amanda Rose Savage of Grand Falls, N.B., “I’m Alive” by Celine Dion.
• Robert Helstrom of Washburn, “Love Look What You’ve Done to Me” by Bozz Scaggs.
• Lydia Abbott of Presque Isle, “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston.
• Jean-Guy Dominique of Grand Falls, N.B., “My Next Broken Heart” by Brooks & Dunn.
• Jamilynn Deschesne of Caribou, “The Greatest Love of All” by Whitney Houston.
• Deanna Jordan of Caribou, “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey, as heard on the television show, “Glee.”
The southern Aroostook show was held Feb. 6 in Houlton, and saw Zacharia Harvey and Wyatt Jenkins, both of Houlton, and Jason Shaw from Hartland, N.B. advancing to the finale. The northern Aroostook competition was held Friday night in Fort Kent where Stacie Coltart, Megan Ouellette and Isabelle Pelletier earned the right to compete for the title of Northern Star at the finale, which will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 28 at the Caribou Performing Arts Center.
Tickets are $10, and are available at all Aroostook County Key Bank branches. All proceeds from funds raised will go directly to the United Way of Aroostook annual campaign.
Since the United Way of Aroostook launched the original “Aroostook Idol” fund-raiser in 2005, it has drawn more than 150 competitors to the stage. It also has raised more than $150,000 to benefit agencies funded by the United Way in Aroostook County.
“We have a goal this year of raising $500,000,” said Claudia Stevens, executive director of the United Way of Aroostook. “By the time we’re done the finale, with our ticket sales and sponsorships, we should have raised about $25,000 through the Northern Star series.”
Stevens, who hosted the show with Jason Parent, told the audience that the money will be used to fund a number of United Way initiatives.
“We are moving toward what we call ‘community impact,’ which means making a sustainable change in our communities, and that’s what we’re working on,” she said. “We have worked on things like funding programs that help with substance abuse, and we’re currently starting a new program that’s going to be dealing with both childhood and adult obesity. Early childhood education is very much on our radar screen, and we also do things like fuel assistance. The money raised from Northern Star will be going to these various programs, and we couldn’t do it without your support.”
FMI, contact UWA, 764-5197.
SEVENTEEN SINGERS from central Aroostook and Victoria County, N.B. took the stage Feb. 12 at Presque Isle Middle School to compete in the regional showdown of “Northern Star,” formerly “Aroostook Idol,” a singing competition designed to find the best area vocalist. Competing were, front row, from left: Amanda Rose Savage of Grand Falls, N.B., Deanna Jordan of Caribou, Bryan Morgan of Limestone, Allyson Michaud of Caribou, Lydia Abbott of Presque Isle, Kassidy Morin of California Settlement, N.B., Mallory Parsons of Tilley, N.B., Jamilynn Deschesne of Caribou, Jordan Buckley of Westfield, and Karina Patterson of Caribou. Back row: Dan Rooney of Presque Isle, Jean-Guy Dominique of Grand Falls, N.B., Larry Berz of Limestone, Lance Albair of Woodland, Yvette Stephens of Presque Isle, Robert Helstrom of Washburn, and Todd Corey of Mars Hill. Winning the central Aroostook competition were Buckley, Albair and Michaud. They will compete in the Northern Star finale, which will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 28 at the Caribou Performing Arts Center.
