2008 Woodie Awards
Students compete to be Muhlenberg Idol
Navah Meller
Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: Life!
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The event was judged by Dean Karen Green, Mike Bruckner, Dr. Jeffrey Rudski, and Lt. Brenda Lakis. The performers included, Lisa Marie Ianuzzi '11, Zack Gugenheim '08, Alex Kennedy '09, Joe Armenti '10, Kaitlyn Ryan '11, Mike Bloom '11, Tom Kelleher '08, David Bass-Clark '10, Traci Lazarowitz '08, and Justin Demko '09.
In the first round, all ten competitors performed a song from the Billboard Top 100 as of October. The length could be from thirty seconds to two minutes. After each singer performed, they were critiqued by the four judges. The judges offered many humorous and at times harsh critiques of the performers, but had the audience laughing constantly. Following the first round, the judges eliminated five of the contestants. Tom Kelleher, Alex Kennedy, Traci Lazarowitz, Justin Demko, and David Bass-Clark all moved onto the second round. In this round, the top five performers had to sing any song from before 1950, and the song had to be two minutes long.
Upon completion of this round, the excitement in the room became apparent, with many cheering on their favorites to win.
Alex Kennedy, Tom Kelleher, and Traci Lazarowitz all moved onto the final round. In the final round the performers were able to sing any song of their choice. The overall winner and Muhlenberg Idol was Alex Kennedy, whom had been an obvious favorite of the audience throughout the competition.
Muhlenberg Idol had a very impressive turnout, with over 200 people having bought tickets. According to Matt Fash '09, one of the coordinators of the event,"The doors opened at 8:30, the room was half full by 8:40, full by 8:50, and by the time the show started it was standing room only. It was so great to see so many aspects of campus represented at this event. Everyone came together to support their friends and have a good time." The Great Room was full, and many students even made signs to support their favorite idol wannabe.
The event was hosted by Ryan Campbell who did his best Ryan Seacrest impersonation throughout the show, and had the audience constantly laughing with his jokes, and his interviews of the contestants. The show also had comedian Mr. Nick Fargione, and the accompanist for the singers was Mr. Robert F. McCrann. Muhlenberg Idol was co-sponsored by the 2009 class council, and the Pep Band. Due to the popularity and success of Muhlenberg Idol, event planner Laura Sansoti '09 said, "Muhlenberg Idol was a bigger success than we ever dreamed it would be. A good time was had by all. We plan on making this an annual event!"