Pierce Patriot Idol, Season 1: No Simon Needed Everyone Shined
Christine Hofer
A
crowd of over 300 parents, students, and community members packed the
“café-theatre” at Piece Middle School for the finals of Patriot Idol, a
fundraiser for the Make-a-Wish Foundation. During the sold out show, 10
finalists sang spectacularly as they competed for first place in Patriot Idol on
April 10.
Patriot Idol, a fundraiser for the Make-a-Wish Foundation, was sponsored by the National Junior Honor Society at Pierce. Planning for the show began many weeks in advance. Christine Hofer, NJHS Advisor and Math Teacher along with Richard Bacolor, NJHS Faculty Council member and Science teacher, modeled Patriot Idol after the popular “American Idol.” Sixty-five hopeful students signed up to audition before the panel of judges, and twenty-four of those received “golden tickets” to the semi-final round. The judges were the current NJHS Faculty Council: Richard Bacolor; Heather Barlow; Scott Edwards; Jill Davison and Chris Kus. The twenty-four semi-finalists performed again, this time in front of the judges as well as their peers. Ten standout performers were selected to go on to the final round.
Prior to the show, Kara Clayton’s students from the Thurston High School video production class created brief interview introductions for each of the finalists. Long-term substitute teacher Eddie Latour, in the role of Ryan Seacrest, introduced each contestant to a packed and anxious crowd. When the video interviews faded to black, the music began and the finalists rocked the house. Finalists performed a range of songs and displayed a range of styles, from pop influences like Sarah Barielles to an inspirational ballad by Josh Grobin.
he
judges scored each contestant and gave comments after each performance; however,
unlike the real American Idol, all comments were positive. The ten finalist
earned points from the judges as well as the audience.
After
the final performance, voting boxes for each contestant were placed in the
cafeteria. During the intermission, the audience could then place their ticket
in the box of their favorite performer. Additional audience votes came in the
form of dollar bill donations to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Once the judges
scores and the audience votes were tallied, Mr. Latour called the crowd back to
their seats for the crowning of Pierce Middle School’s first ever Patriot Idol.
The top three contestants of the night were separated by just a handful of points and votes. Sixth grader Dene’zhia Futch rocked the crowd with her third place performance of “Shackles” by Mary Mary. Eighth grader Kirstie Williams inspired the crowd with “I Believe I Can Fly” and earned second place. In the end though, it was eighth grader Deja’ Wharton’s bluesy rendition of “Summertime” by Fantasia that earned the top spot and title of Season 1 Patriot Idol. In addition to their titles as Patriot Idols, the winners were awarded prizes donated by Mr. Russ Justice from the Pierce Middle School store. First place received an iPod Nano, second place received an American Idol Karaoke system, and third place received an iPod Shuffle. Many other items were donated by students, staff and parents for the concession stand and bake sale. The sound system and additional music was provided by DJ Mystr E. Productions (PMS teacher Scott Edwards assisted by sons Zach and Xavier).
Though
Ms. Wharton was named the top Patriot Idol, everyone involved with the show came
out a winner in some way. The show netted over $1500 for the NJHS, much of
which will go directly to the Make-A-Wish Foundation to assist terminally ill
children live out their dreams. NJHS members earned much-needed volunteer hours
by giving of their time to help run the show.
Perhaps the most important gains of the night, however, came from just being there to witness the immense yet often hidden talents of the young people that walk the halls of Pierce Middle School. Eddie Latour, the show’s emcee and a new teacher, commented, “What a euphoric experience! This was a definite example of what they meant when they said teaching is more than just instructing students on content knowledge.” Heather Barlow, a counselor at Pierce and a Patriot Idol judge, said, “It was an extremely entertaining family event that absolutely PACKED the "theater." Everyone who attended had nothing but rave reviews about the performers, and the kids were on cloud 9.” Beth Hutter, a building aide added, “I was so impressed... with the students and parents there who cheered for EVERYONE who performed, and for the contestants themselves, who were FABULOUS- and gracious in their support of each other. You rocked the house!”