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The hit ENC tradition Nazzy Idol returned on Monday night in the Ruth A. Cameron Auditorium as 10 contestants sang in pairs for a chance to make the second round.

The TV-show-based competition started with auditions last week on Oct. 30 and Nov. 1.  Ten contestants were chosen to compete in the first round and were paired together to perform classic Disney duets.

The three pairs that advanced to round two next Monday are Mike Maynard and Tyler Oates, Caitlin Schesser and Cameron Smith, and Kara Magnuson and Emma Thies.

Maynard and Oates performed “I Can Go the Distance,” from “Hercules.”

Schesser and Cameron sang “Colors of the Wind,” the “Pocahontas” anthem.

“It’s a little surreal. I’m a transfer and I don’t know that many people,” Schesser said. “It’s crazy to think that everyone voted enough for me and Cameron to [advance]. I’m really grateful.”

Magnuson and Thies sang, “So This is Love,” from “Cinderella.”

“I have always been a competitive singer; singing is one of the few things in life I am actually good at,” Magnuson said. “I wanted to be part of Nazzy Idol this year because I really enjoyed The Voice last year and was so disappointed that I wasn’t able to compete in the finals.”

Magnuson made the finals of The Voice last year but could not compete in the final round because she was rushed to the hospital an hour before the show with dehydration.

“I plan on blowing them out of the water this time around,” she said.

Eliminated in round one were Liz Curry and Matt Gilbert, who led the show with “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” the classic from “The Lion King,” and Amanda Hiittner and Sam Kish, who sang “A Whole New World,” from “Aladdin.”

Nazzy Idol was replaced last year by a signing competition based on the TV show The Voice. SGA decided to bring Nazzy Idol back this year.

“Nazzy Idol has a lot more student participation; students can actually vote instead of the judges deciding,” Leann Williams, director of student events, said.

Round two, in which six contestants will sing solos, is at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 11, in the Ruth A. Cameron Auditorium.

Video taken by Andrew Littauer and Cody Shepard