Archive: Around Town

The food court at The Shops at Ithaca Mall was jammed  as fans gathered to cheer on their favorite singers in the 'The Z Finals' last Saturday.  The five finalists would sing two songs -- one of their choice and one the judges chose for them -- to win a recording session for a song that would be featured regularly on Ithaca's Z 95.5 FM and passed on to major recording labels, plus tickets for two and a limousine ride to see the American Idol tour concert  when it comes to Syracuse on September 14th.

"We've been very impressed by the talent that has come out in this area," says The Shops at Ithaca Mall Marketing Director Kelsey Henning.  "We have a great community."


The five rounds in the competition rotated between the Mall and the Z 95.5 studio.  Judges selected 60 contestants to come to the studio for the second round, then listeners voted for their favorites to go on to round three at the Mall.  At the end of that performance the audience at the mall voted for the final 10.

Those ten performed on the radio and over 700 listeners emailed their votes to choose the final five.  "It was really close," says Z 95.5 Program Manager Justin Wright.

That led to 'The Z Finals,' the last round a performance show for finalists Amy Biefeldt, Asya Abramyan, Jeff Love, John Rawlins III, and Kelsey St. Clair.  Each had a distinctive style, and they were good.  The finals were hosted by Z 95.5's on air personalities Birdman and Corey at Night.  The three judges were Wright, Henning, and Hickey's Music's Rebecca Leistikow, who is also a vocal coach.


Biefeldt sang Gretchen Wilson's 'Here For The Party' and Maroon 5's 'Sunday Morning'  in country style.  Abramyan's performance of Natasha Bedingfield's 'Soul Mate' and Rihanna's 'Umbrella' was laid back and sweet voiced.  Love voiced Jimmy Cozier's 'She's All I Got' a capella, then rocked with Musiq Soulchild's 'Just Friends.'  Rawlins owned the audience with his renditions of Usher's 'Caught Up' and Maroon 5's 'Sunday Morning.'  Tracy St. Clair started with a Tracy Chapman song followed by Jason Mratz's 'I'm Yours' fronting a live band that she had put together only 20 minutes before the performance.

Amy BiefeldtBiefeldt works for IthacaSports.com, and has never sung professionally.  You wouldn't know it from her strong vocals and apparent comfort level on stage.  She says she would love to have a professional singing career.

"It's been a lifelong dream, and I've never really done anything with it," she says.  "My friends said, 'You should really do this.  Birdman saw me singing Karaoke at Fisherman's Pub and he said 'I'd like you to come do this.'  That was even more inspiration.  So I did."

Asya AbramyanAbramyan was born in Azerbaijan, then moved to Ithaca when she was seven.  She says she was already singing, but lacked the confidence to try it professionally.  At Ithaca High School she was the one to sing the national anthem at sporting events.

"Since I could walk -- most people say walk, I say walk -- I've been singing.  No one can shut me up!  I love it.  I love singing.  It's my life."

Kelsey St. ClairSt. Clair is a mechanical engineering student at the University of Rochester.  Born in Boston, she lived in Tuscon, Arizona before moving to Ithaca.  She sings with Vitamin L in Ithaca and started a soul choir at her high school.  She says she loves competing and enters any singing competition she can.

"This was another experience, an opportunity to get out there," she said before the final vote.  "I really like performing and singing.  I'm not going to win.  But if I won it would be all my dreams coming true.  Singing is what I want to do."

John Rawlins IIIRawlins moved to Ithaca from his native Washington, D. C., to attend Cornell University.  Since graduating in 2006 he works in student engagement in Multicultural Affairs at Ithaca College.  He also sings professionally in Ithaca and along the East Coast.  He has sung in and directed choirs, singing hip hop and R&B groups, and sings a variety of styles including pop and country.  But he didn't intend to audition.

"I came to the mall for a work break," he says.  "All I wanted to do was get a pretzel from Auntie Annie's.  Two of my friends were here.  They said, 'Are you going to sing?'  I said, 'No I just came for a pretzel and I have to go back to work in half an hour.'  They said, 'No you should sing.'  'OK, I'll give it a shot.'  And here we are!  It's crazy to me.  It's amazing.  It's a lot of fun, a lot of fun."

Jeff LoveLove didn't originally intend to audition either until his son Austin convinced him to try.  "The farther I got I kept not being eliminated," he said before the final vote.  "It got to the point where I'm trying to win this thing, so that's what I'm trying to do."

But when the 300 votes were tallied and the judges votes weighed in, Rawlins was the winner.  He will get to record a song at Moving Box Studios, and Wright will send the single to recording executives.  While Wright says there are no guarantees it will go beyond that, anything can happen.  Either way Rawlins is getting a lot more than just a pretzel from his visit to the mall.


"It's very exciting," he says.  "I've recorded some things, not on a big scale, here and back in D.C.  Now I feel like I've got a lot of experience under my belt musically.  I'm interested to see how that all will come out.  I'm excited to get started."

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