As October is coming to a close, so is Erie Idol. On October 19th top ten contestants competed in the second round of Erie Idol where the top five contestants were selected. 

The top ten contestants were Allie Toothaker, Sydney Maddaloni, Saylor Russ, Ella Valania, Cooper, Bella and Carolina Chudleigh, Avery Larson, Lucas Lee, Sydney Robertson, Tia Tempero and Ellie Bealer.

Thalia Burd, the choir director and Erie Idol organizer described how, “we’ve had more people audition this year than ever, which is making selecting the top ten really challenging because everyone who auditioned was so fantastic.”

Returning audiences however might see some familiar faces since according to Burd, “you might notice people like Lucas Lee, Allie Toothacher, Tia Temprano, Gray Covack, are people who have done it in the past.”

While contestants compete this year Burd and the choir leadership council will be working hard behind the scenes to make sure everything runs smoothly. 

Burd explains “choir leadership counsel and myself plan the initial stages,” but the judges, “give each singer some feedback during that top ten performance and then the audience ultimately votes who moves on to the top five.”

This time around the top five ended up being Allie Toothaker, Saylor Russ, Sydney Maddaloni, Ellie Bealer, and “Triple Chud” which consists of Cooper, Caroline and Bella Chudleigh. 

Now that the audience has selected the top five, it is up to the contestants to prepare their live performances where, according to Burd “those people get to perform a third time to determine the winner and then the audience votes one last time. Once we determine that winner, their name goes in fame on a plaque outside the choir room and they win some cash prize money.”

On performance days senior Saylor Russ says she, “like[s] to talk to them and see how they’re feeling and you know since i’ve[she’s] done this before, to make sure everybody knows what the process is gonna be like so that everybody feels comfortable.”

The next round of Erie Idol takes place on November 3rd, and is sure to be a fun night for audiences and a great opportunity to help the choir department. According to Thalia Burd, “at that event we’re gonna sell concessions, audience members get a vote with their entry fee but also extra votes can be purchased. All of that money goes to profit the choir department.” 

Russ says “I’m excited to see song choices, I’m excited to see a real audience because I didn’t have that last time. It’s such a fun, it’s such a fun thing that we do at Erie and I love that we have as many involved and talented people as we do.” 

With that being said the event will be a blast, so make sure to come support the Erie High Choir Department by attending the top 5 Erie Idol performances on November 3rd in the auditorium.