ENC students gathered in the RCA last week to attend the first round of the school’s annual singing competition: Nazzy Idol. The contest consisted of six female students who were selected based on private auditions to showcase the best singers on campus.
The first round of the competition took place on Monday, November 7, where each contestant paired up with another to sing a duet. Each singer was then judged by a panel of three ENC staff members: Chris Cherry, Crystal Erb, and Tyler Oates. After the judging, the student-filled audience voted on which singer to keep from each duet; however, the judges would also have an opportunity to save one of the contestants from elimination in the first round. The first duet was sung by a pair of freshmen: Rebecca Portella and Marci Zaccardi, who performed “Safe and Sound” by Taylor Swift.
The second duet of the night was sung by juniors Amanda Wasser and Megan Kindt. Together they performed an impressive rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” The first set of eliminations led to the final act of the night: an all-out sing off between junior Amanda Ceballos and freshman Jasmine Vigo. The two showed off their talents by singing Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie.”
As the acts ended, the auditorium quieted down and the audience was forced to make several tough decisions. On a piece of paper, each audience member checked off which performer deserved to move on from each duet sang. Before the lovely host, Abbie Dunham, announced the contestants that would move on to the second round, the judges shared a few words with the singers.
They wanted the contestants to know that no matter what happened, they should continue singing. Each participant gave a fantastic performance, and entering the contest in the first place is an accomplishment in itself. However, Judge Cherry had another comment; he was very disappointed in ENC’s male population for not having a single representative on stage.
Once the votes were cast and the judges had spoken, it was time to read the results. The three contestants chosen to move on to the next round were Rebecca Portella, Megan Kindt, and Jasmine Vigo. The judges then used their save to bring back Amanda Ceballos.
With only four contestants remaining, students once again gathered in the auditorium a week later to witness the Nazzy Idol finale. The four girls each had the opportunity to prove themselves by singing two songs.
After all eight performances had finished, students had the chance to vote for their favorite singer. As tension rose in the room, Dunham announced the winner of this year’s Nazzy Idol: Megan Kindt. As the crowd erupted with cheers, Megan was awarded with a giant laminated check for $150.
The contestants in this year’s Nazzy Idol put on quite a show for the rest of the campus, and have certainly raised expectations for future competitions.