By Carly Shaw, Staff Writer
Photos by Ashley Le
Students, faculty and family filled the gym to participate in the Voice of Fountain Valley, a fundraiser for the choir program, last Friday.
The competition began with a group of 27 singers; two of which were saved by the audience. From the 27 contestants an esteemed panel of seven judges picked the top ten and eventually took on the difficult task of choosing the top three singers.
“Some of those that didn’t make it to the top three were amazing, so congratulations to all of them,” said Kimberly Cole, a judge of the competition.
The process of choosing the top twenty-five contestants was extensive. A panel including Kevin Tison, the choir director and event coordinator, and his colleagues from all over the world, listened to the recordings of 75 contestants who sent in audition recordings.
“I was at a conference in Utah and I had several of my colleagues listened to the recordings and from those 70 or so auditions we determined the top 25 and those 25 are guaranteed a chance to sing at the event,” said Tison.
The event consisted of three rounds of singing with two 15 minute intermission after each round. During intermission, the audience had the opportunity of buying snacks and watching theater perform. The audience and contestants also had words of advice from Cole, who is also a singer. However, she was not the only one with words of wisdom for the singers.
“You gotta remember to believe in yourself. That comes through in your performance. Just let it fly,” said Christian Jacobs, another judge at the competition.
The night was filled with talent and despite the competition, the night ended with Paige Taylor (’16) winning first place, Roxanne Watson (’15), winning second place and Ariana Isbell (’16) winning third place.
“Honestly I was completely surprised and honored. There were so many beautiful singers up there that deserved it just as much if not more than me. It was an amazing feeling to know that people voted and supported me,” said Taylor.
The event proved to be a success and the choir department hopes to continue it as a tradition.
“I think it was incredible, better than expected. You never know what kind of talents there are that are hiding in the Fountain Valley campus,” said Tison.
