By Natalie de La Garza
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — Emily Marin of Fort Kent was saved during the elimination round when the judges picked her to move forward as a “Wild Card,” going on to win the show and the title of the new 2015 Northern Star.
It was Marin’s fourth time participating in the show, and she was surprised when her name was announced as the victor.
“This was going to be my last year, so I’m kind of glad with the end result,” she said with a smile.
Marin has been singing since she was 3 and enjoys singing country and pop music.
She was paired with Adam Ouellette of Madawaska to sing the song “Picture” by Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow; the two were the first pair to perform during the Northern Star finale show on Feb. 8 at the Caribou Performing Arts Center.
Marin and Ouellette were on “Team Charlie,” a moniker indicating the name of their coach, Charlie Ouellette. Finalists from each regional show were paired into a team to perform at the finale, and audience members selected which vocalist of the duo would advance to the final round. Judges also had a “Wild Card” designation, allowed them to advance one vocalist to the final round who did not earn the higher number of votes than their partner.
Weighing in as judges were Pam Cyr and Brandon Clark — both past winners of the show. They has positive comments for Marin and Ouellette’s duet.
“That’s a great performance to start the show and if that’s how everything else is going to be tonight, I don’t know how anyone is going to pick,” Clark said.
Coach Ouellette was quick to remind the judges that there was always that wildcard pick that would allow both singers to advance to the final round.
The second set of performers was Kacie Chapman and Austin LaPlante, of Presque Isle and Caribou respectively, singing “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz. Their coach, Tamia Glidden, had to utter a four letter word to describe the duo.
“I’m going to say that four-letter word you guys hated all this week — cute,” she said with a grin.
“You guys are so comfortable on stage and it almost seemed like you were feeding off of each other; you got more and more comfortable as it was going … it was really fun to watch and I couldn’t stop smiling,” Clark said.
Third on the program was Chloe Wheeler of Bridgewater and David Dow of Houlton, performing “Invincible” by MGK — a non-traditional song for the show as it featured rap.
“Anyone who knows me knows that I‘m a diehard metal head — classic rock, ‘80s metal — but that’s how it’s done, son,” Coach Rick Gustin emphasized. “You guys nailed that.”
Dow’s rapping with Wheeler’s vocals helped convert both Cyr and Clark to the rap genre — Cyr stood and applauded their performance.
“I’ve never been a big rap person, but you made me a believer,” Cyr commented.
Performing fourth was Fort Kent’s Cady Hebert and Madawaska’s Stacie Coltart, who sang “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele. Their coach, Sam Boutot, was elated with their performance.
“The power behind that song is indescribable,” she said. “You rocked it.”
Cyr agreed that Hebert and Coltart were both powerhouses, the young Hebert singing clear and strong and Coltart having a bit of growl in her voice.
“That was amazing — I’m speechless,” said Clark.
The fifth performers, Jacob Graham of Mapleton and Nicole Adams of Presque Isle, selected the song “Picture” by Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow — just like Marin and Ouellette; co-host Jason Parent explained that both duos were made aware of the duplicate selection but neither changed song.
“I’m so proud,” said their coach, Mel Smith. “They did a perfect job, and I’m proud to be associated with them.”
Cyr caused a big laugh in the crowd when she commented that Graham and Adam’s performance was so convincing that she could swear they could have been dating.
“I wasn’t wondering that, but it seemed like you were together!” she said, adding that she loved the gravel in Graham’s voice and the sweetness in Adam’s.
Clark agreed with Cyr, commenting that Graham and Adam’s voices matched well together.
The final performers were Taylor Reed of Houlton and Tazay Hill of Limestone, who sang “Say Something” by a Great Big World and Christina Aguilera.
Parent chided Cyr “who’s hosting the new Dating Game over here,” and asked what she thought about their performance.
“Oh man, they have chemistry that’s for sure,” she said, mentioning that their duet gave her goosebumps from the start. “It was emotional, it was effortless, it was felt from the heart … so natural and beautiful,” Cyr added, standing up and applauding the two performers.
Audience members voted on which half of each duo would progress into the final round — selected were Ouellette, LaPlante, Dow, Hebert, Graham and Hill, with Marin earning the judges’ Wild Card pick.
Ouellette kicked off the last chapter of this year’s Northern Star competition with the song “All of Me” by John Legend.
“Like I said before, you’re a singer, you’re a musician, you’re an entertainer — I love you man. You’re good,” Cyr stated simply.
LaPlante funked it up by singing (and dancing) the song “Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars.
LaPlante’s confidence was noted by Clark, and Cyr commented that she’d wanted to join LaPlante during his performance.
“You know what — continue singing and performing and giving us that attitude, it’s so awesome,” she complimented the young singer. “You just entertained this whole crowd — it’s so awesome.”
The third finalist was another young singer, Hebert, who performed “Angels” by Jessica Simpson.
“When you hit those high notes — unbelieveable. Such a little body and this voice comes out that’s just amazing,” Cyr said.
“How old are you?” Clark questioned, to which Hebert answered “twelve and a half.”
“That’s amazing,” Clark responded. “You don’t sound twelve and a half.”
Dow personalized his final performance with a song that he wrote his own lyrics to, called “Something Different.”
“Tal-en-ted — talented-talented-talented,” Cyr said. “I never liked rap — I love it.”
Clark thought that Dow performed better during the finale than he did during the regional show in Houlton.
“You showed that you can sing too,” he said of Dow’s rap song.
Graham came on stage to perform “Lord Have Mercy on a Working Man” by Travis Tritt, and his performance of the country song made Cyr want to say “Ye-haw.”
“I feel like I could go down the road and turn on the radio and hear your voice because it sounded so good,” Clark commented. “It was great.”
The sixth finalist, Hill floored the judges with his performance of “Stay with Me” by Sam Smith.
“Totally mesmerizing,” Cyr said. “You sing with so much passion, it comes from deep within and you really feel and mean what you’re singing — and it shows,” she added. “Unbelievable.”
The final performance of the evening was wild card Marin — the vocalist may not have had the votes to pass the second round, but she won over the crowd and the show singing the song “Hallelujah” by Josh Groban.
“You sing so effortlessly and it’s beautiful and it’s sweet — and it’s just everything,” Cyr commented.
Clark agreed with Cyr, and added that Marin’s singing leaves him speechless.
“Every time you sing I hear this voice that’s just so pleasant to listen to,” he said.
While all the singers brought their pleasant voices to the United Way fundraiser, coach Mel Smith commented to Parent during the show that the United Way has given something great to the vocalists in the region.
“I have to say that Jason, you and Claudia for the last 11 years have created such a great show and a great venue for all our young people to perform,” Smith said, and his words were echoed with applause.
Of the performers to grace the stage over the years was 2007 Aroostook Idol, which is what Northern Star was previously called, Annie Charles. Charles is well known as the “DFAS Diva” but will be moving this spring when she retires from the Department of Financial Accounting Services in Limestone.
Charles performed two songs for the audience, and the Northern Star hosts and victors commented on how much Charles means to them.
Clark, for example, first participated in then-Aroostook Idol the same year as Charles’ victory.
“I came to the finale and I saw you, and you won, and I was like “how am I going to compete against that?” Clark recalled with a smile.
Samatha Boutot, who won the contest in 2006, said that she considers Charles like family because those who participate every year become family.
“I think it was your first show that Jason said something like ‘the heavens gates have opened’ or something like that, and it was so true because God just brought you right here to us and to this show, and I’m so sad that you’re leaving,” Boutot commented.
All proceeds from funds raised at the door go directly to the United Way of Aroostook’s annual campaign. Northern Star typically generates around $25,000 per year, and more than $493,000 has been raised since the show started.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie de La Garza
DUET — David Dow of Houlton and Chloe Wheeler of Bridgewater teamed up to perform “Invincible” by MGK during the Northern Star finale.
