Archive: Around Town

American Idol junkies have been feeling a void since Lee DeWyze defeated Crystal Bowersox for the title last May.  Ithacans are getting a fix as local singers duke it out in Z95.5's second annual Z Star competition.  Last Saturday the top ten performed before a live audience at The Shops at Ithaca Mall with radio personalities Corey and Mickey V judging, celebrity judge John Rawlins III, and Z95.5's Jess filling out the roster as host.  Rawlins is last year's winner, and he was having a blast as a judge.

"I get to give tips now and help people improve their performing skills," he says.  "I get to help them to connect to the audience and give an overall outstanding performance.  It's great.  I love it"

The audience was loving it, too.  The food court at the mall was full of fans and well wishers cheering their favorite singers.  Just over 100 singers auditioned in round one.  55 survived to compete in the second round.  Listeners voted online and the field was narrowed to 20 with between 700 and 800 votes.  The top 20 performed at the mall in round 3, and 350 members of the live audience voted for the top ten.

"It was packed," Corey says.  "People were standing up, people were on the balcony above the restaurants on the corner.  It was hard to find a spot."

Those who ended their journey in the top ten in round four last Saturday were Alexa Anderson, Salma Arif, Kelsey Harris, Heather Lacey, and Leigh McGonagle.  That leaves five finalists who will battle it out in the final competition Saturday:

Lisa LaDieu is an Ithacan who has been singing for about 25 years, and recently released a CD.  Amara Pinnock will be a senior at Cornell University this fall.  Willie Sleight is an a capella singer at Ithaca College, where he will be a junior this fall.  Jewell Payne will be in 'The Piano Lesson' at the Hangar Theatre this month.  Taryn Mullenix says she joined at her sister's urging, so she decided to overcome her stage fright to compete. 


Corey and Mikey V are judges for most rounds, and the third spot has included The Shops at Ithaca Mall Marketing Director Kelsey Henning, and Rawlins.

"I'd have to say it's a little tougher this year," Corey says.  "More people showed up and more people knew about it, so it was harder for the contestants this year.  There are some true stars out there so it's going to be interesting to see who takes it this year."

The judges focused as much on performance technique and stage presence as on singing ability.  They clearly preferred performers who could not only sing a song, but sell it to the audience.

"It's all about the performance," Jess says.  "You can have a great voice and just stand still and no one will like you because you're boring.  If you have a mediocre voice and great stage presence you're going to be awesome."

Rawlins says he's somewhere between Randy and Paula as a judge, but someone called him a Simon when he judged the third round.  ZJ Jess says she enjoys being a Ryan (the host), because she was a tough judge.

"I was a mean judge," she says.  "I was kind of the Simon judge -- a little too feisty."

But contestants are willing to risk a Simony review to win a recording session that results in a single that is passed over to record producers and played locally on Z95.5.

Rawlins is one of the featured performers at Lansing Harbor Festival tomorrow.  Later in the day he'll be at the mall as one of the two featured performers at the Z Star finals.  He'll be performing his single, 'I'm Ready,' which he recorded as part of the prize for winning last year.  American Idol 5th place finalist  Scott Savol (from season 4, the year Carrie Underwood won) will also perform his new single, and will be a celebrity judge.

Corey says that as the new radio station on the block events like Z Star make more people aware of the station, which brings more listeners.  The Z95.5 crew all say they love going out into the community, being a part of it, and meeting listeners.

"It's the interaction and seeing what talent there is in Ithaca," Corey says.  "There are some truly talented singers here that may not have the time or be able to make the effort to get to the big cities to try out from 'American Idol.'  That gives them the ability to do that on our stage and maybe have the same results when all is said and done."

"I love being out in the community," Jess, who also broadcast live from Myers Park the week the Myers Park Playground Project went up, says.  "It's great meeting listeners and putting on an event like this.  And it's great helping somebody make their dreams come true."


Rawlins says that winning Z Star changed his outlook on a singing career 100 percent.  Once his single was released he says people wanted more.  Within a few weeks he and a friend converted his basement into a recording studio, and he's been recording ever since when he's not performing live or working in the Multicultural Affairs department at Ithaca College.  Before that he practiced his single at a friend's home studio before recording it at Ithaca's Moving Box Studios  Another friend produced the instrumental track in Washington, D.C., sending it to Ithaca, where Rawlins recorded the vocal track.

"It was quite a process and it made me more excited to do this in the future," he says.  "Now my nights are spent writing and recording."

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