By Maci Shingleton
Trevecca on Tuesday hosted its annual Trojan Idol competition in the Boone Business Building. Hundreds of students, faculty, alumni, and fans crowded together to watch the first of the two-night vocal performance competition.
Ten students were selected last month after auditions and each performed last night in front of their peers and a panel of three tough judges. Five finalists were selected by students and a panel of judges to perform in Thursday night’s final competition.
Judges have the power to chose two finalists and selected Maureen Maltez who sang “Respect” and Savannah Walters who sang “I Just Haven’t Met You Yet.”
Students voted for Craig Tibbs who performed “That Girl”, Racheal Nemiroff who played the ukulele and sang “Riptide” and lastly, Payton Williams who sang “Springsteen.”
The judging panel was made up of Dave Clark, songwriter; Rebecca Walker, a vocalist who has toured with artists including Amy Grant and recorded vocals for Disney movies; and Charlie Hubbs, a sound engineer and Nashville producer who has worked with artists including Brad Paisley and Josh Turner.
Junior transfer Natalie Taylor had never been to Trojan Idol before and says she was blown away and surprised by how great it was.
“I thought the music was really good. It kind of surprised me, actually. The competition was good and I thought the band was really, really, really, good. Really good. Overall, it was really exciting,” said Taylor.
Tomorrow night the finalists will perform again and compete for the title of this year’s Trojan Idol beginning at 8 p.m. in the Boone Business Building. The show will be live-streamed at streaming.trevecca.edu
Here is a wrap up of last night’s performances:
Sophomore Kaitlyn Aycock “Waiting for You” – Adele
Freshman Payton Williams “Springsteen” – Eric Church
Freshman Savannah Walters “I Just Haven’t Met You Yet” – Michael Buble
Freshman Taylor Cardiff “Still Into You“ – Paramore
Sophomore Craig Tibbs “That Girl” – Justin Timberlake
Senior Sean Kilpatrick “Girl Named Tennessee” – Needtobreathe
Senior Rachel Nemiroff “Riptide” – Vance Joy
Junior Maureen Maltez “Respect” – Aretha Franklin
Freshman Devon Halliburton “Sunday Morning” – Maroon 5
Sophomore TJ Magee “Ain’t it Fun” – Paramore
