On the evening of Wednesday, Feb. 24, seven students came together at the Woodbury Campus Center in Portland to compete in Portland Events Board’s first USM Idol competition. The students competed for the first place prize of $100 while performing a variety of compositions, ranging from “When You Believe” from the Prince of Egypt Soundtrack to cult classic, “Rocky Raccoon.”
“This is our first of the specialized Open Mic nights,” PEB Chairwoman Christine Bullard said, explaining the genesis of USM Idol. “We had gotten such a good response to the Open Mic nights that we decided to take it another step. Since most of our performers at Open Mic night were singers, we decided to create USM Idol.”
Three judges took their seats before the stage. Chris O’Conner, Maggie Guzman, and Kathy Wright were the three judges for the evening, although they went by the names Randy, Simon and Ellen, respectively.
On a scale of 1-5, each performer would be judged on the song that they sang; it’s originality, their stage performance and the crowd’s reaction. On a scale of 1-10, they would be judged based on their voice quality.
The performers competed for prizes ranging from $100 dollars to a bundle of candy including Snickers and 3 Musketeers.
Dustin Ward, student representative to the Board of Trustees, was an impeccable Ryan Seacrest-esque host for the night, interviewing the performers and calling on the judges.
Kendra Miller, a freshman at USM, was the first performer of the night, singing “When You Believe” from the Prince of Egypt soundtrack. “I’m going through a lot right now, I mean who isn’t, but this song really lifts my spirit and I just really like it,” Miller said of her song selection.
The judges noted Miller’s nervousness and the possibility that the song was not the best choice due to it being a lower pitch than she might be used to. All judges, even Simon (a.k.a. Guzman) agreed that the performance was powerfully passionate and that she came into the performance brilliantly. “I just want you to know,” Miller said to Simon’s accusations that she picked a song pitched too high. “That I’m a singer here at USM. I’m a soprano.”
The next performer was Matthew Scribner, a USM sophomore who switched his song last minute to perform a throatier, Julien Casablancas of The Strokes piece. The judges were all over the board considering Scribner’s performance. Ellen (a.k.a Wright) liked his voice and told him that it wasn’t that bad. Even Simon said that it “tickled his fancy” and that it was like Woody Gutherie and Johnny Cash mixed together. The difference lay in Randy’s (a.k.a O’Conner) opinion. “Dawg,” Randy began. “It was like being in an Irish Pub without any beer. You gave it your best.”
Lindsey Hamilton, took the stage next to perform Aretha Franklin’s “Chain of Fools” a capella.
“I’ve always liked Motown. Aretha Franklin is my chick.” The judges loved her performance, even Simon had no criticism Randy and Ellen both commented on her courage and the confidence that she had in her performance.”What do you have to say to that?” host Seacrest asked her. “Yay!” she responded enthusiastically.
Swaying the performances in a new direction, Freshman Brendon Champagne took the stage with his guitar to perform Morrissey’s “Black Eyed Susan”. “I first picked up a guitar in second grade,” Champagne said. The judges varied in their opinions of his performance. While Simon had no strong feelings for or against it, Ellen professed her awe for someone who can play guitar and sing at the same time and Randy said that he liked it.
Senior Jose Gonzalez took the stage next, also with his guitar to perform Jason Mraz’s “I’m yours.” He prefaces his performance with the words: “I just learned this song.” Simon thought that while Gonzalez had a good voice,the song did not showcase his ability. Randy agreed, and also noted that when Gonzalez was nervous, he sped up and that was something that he needed to work on. Ellen noted that as the song went on, he got into it more.
Fearlessly, USM Alum Greg Parlin took the stage, also with his guitar, to play a “Ben Harper-style” of “Sexual Healing” originally performed by Marvin Gaye. “Dawg,” Randy told Parlin. “I think you woo-ed Simon. It had a very Justin Timberlake quality to it. If I could, I would put you on a plane to L.A right now to audition for American Idol.” The judges all agreed that Parlin was extremely comfortable and at ease performing and that he knew his own voice.
Last to the stage was USM Senior, Teddy Mattson to sing and play guitar to the cult classic “Rocky Raccoon,” originally performed by the Beatles. Simon praised Mattson for rising to the challenge of such a complex song. Ellen also praised him for his ambitiousness and for the originality of the song choice. Randy, however, was not a fan of the song but thought that he did a good job. “I was in it for the money,” Mattson laughed later. “I’m always trying to get out there and play more. I play in a Portland metal band called Beast Machine but I really like acoustic music too, I just don’t get to play it a lot.”
After a short deliberation, the judges made their final decisions. Lindsay Hamilton took first, Greg Parlin took second and Brendan Champagne took third.
“I’m so stoked by the turnout,” Bullard said after all was said and done. “I’m incredibly impressed by the talent. We’re going to be specializing each Open Mic night now.”
On Wednesday, March 10th, PEB will be sponsoring a Last Comic Standing Open Mic night. The winner will be sent to the Comedy Connection to perform, and on Wednesday April 14th, the PEB will be sponsoring “USM’s Got Talent”, to showcase more than just singing talent.