Aside from family fun, this week’s Wellesley fair narrowed down to three the remaining contestants in the Wellesley Idol musical competition, a contest that will be decided later this month at the Apple Butter and Cheese Festival.
The Wellesley arena was packed and filled with energy, fans eager to watch the top-six contestants compete in the Idol competition following the opening ceremony at the 166th Wellesley-North Easthope Fall Fair on Tuesday night.
While the styles were wide-ranging, one thing all six semi-finalists had in common, besides talent, was confidence.
After a long deliberation by the group of judges – Allister Bradley, Amy Rola, Tim Louis, J.P. Sunga and John Beetle Bailey – the crowd silenced to hear the results. Hadley Mustakas, Jordan Vogt and Jorja Smith were the lucky three chosen to move forward to the finals.
The decision wasn’t easy, according to Bradley and the rest of the panel: it came down to a really tough choice on who goes through to the next round.
The finalists ranged in age and brought something unique in each performance that set them apart from their fellow competitors, with Mustakas, performing My Church by Maren Morris. “Wow, you are a star, you have that star quality and you can tell,” said Rola, the 2014 Idol winner.
Vogt joined the stage shortly after to perform Still Rolling Stones by Lauren Daigle that was accompanied by her acoustic guitar. Her voice echoed through out the arena and brought the whole crowd together in clapping their hands along with the performance.
The youngest of them all was 12-year-old Smith, who performed Kelly Clarkson’s song Piece by Piece. The room filled with emotions as she sang, “You presented the story like it was your own, it was superbly authentic,” Bradley said.
Announcing who goes onto the next stage is the hardest part, said Louis, but what the judges did enjoy was the mentoring portion that they got to take part in with each contestant.
“Everyone was already talented coming in, and just to watch the level of entertainment just go up is extremely rewarding,” he added.
All participants were applauded for their efforts and didn’t leave empty-handed, as gifts were given to those who competed in the semi-finals.
The top three finalists will move forward to compete at the Wellesley Apple Butter and Cheese Festival on September 28. Rewards will be handed out at the finale with the first-place winner receiving a $500 prize, second place $300, third place $200 and finally a People’s Favourite winner, who was voted on Tuesday evening at the fair will take home $125.
