3 eastern Idaho residents competing for $10,000 in local singing competition
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The following is a news release from the organizers of The Vocalist.
AFTON, Wyoming – Three residents from eastern Idaho have been selected as contestants for The Vocalist: Presented by Fall River Propane.
Formerly Swift Idol, the event recently went through a name change because of its close resemblance to “American Idol,” the TV show which it is based on.
Paige Anne of Idaho Falls, Katie Meldrum of Idaho Falls and Keishianna Peterson of Pocatello will join five additional contestants on stage to compete for one $10,000 grand prize.
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Anne, age 13, was born and raised in Idaho Falls and has been singing for six years. She has performed at various venues and events such as Utah Jazz games, Salt Lake Bees and Arizona Diamondback games, Monster Energy SuperCross events, The War Bonnet Rodeo and National Hunting Expo. Anne is an avid supporter of veterans and has performed at several events to honor the men and women who protect and serve our country. She says she is a fierce believer in our nation and loves her country and the power of The National Anthem.
Meldrum, age 18, is a singer, songwriter, pianist and self-taught ukulelist. Meldrum says she is a “lean mean ice cream scooping machine and a high school distance runner” but is ready to turn in the ice cream scoops and tennis shoes to focus on her music career. Katie plans to attend Brigham Young University-Idaho in the fall where she’ll study theatre and music. Broadway is her dream.
Peterson is originally from Florida, born to Jamaican parents. She has lived in Idaho since 2007 when she attended BYU-Idaho and earned a Bachelor’s degree in music and minor in theater arts. For the past 10 years, Keishianna has focused the majority of her musical energy on teaching in a variety of ways, including a non-profit youth choir, private voice, music directing, choir clinicians and vocal coaching choirs.
The remaining five contestants selected are Keiyana Osmond from Logan, Utah, Ben Kimball from Layton, Utah, Bryant Erickson from Afton, Wyoming, Abby Jozwik from Casper, Wyoming and Katelyn Petersen from Cokeville, Wyoming.
Katelyn Petersen was selected as a wild card contestant during a concert event held in Afton, earlier in May. The remaining seven contestants were selected through an online audition process. Auditions were received from all over the Rocky Mountains as well as Georgia and Texas. The judging panel made up of Alex Boye’ and previous winners of the event, selected the contestants based on the auditions received.
During the competition, each contestant will sing in the first round. After the opening round, the audience will vote via text message to select three finalists to move on to the second round. A fourth finalist will be selected by three judges on stage, including Alex Boye’, Josh Jardine, the 2019 winner, and Shelby Thatcher, former Miss Wyoming. In the second round, the four finalists will sing again, followed by another audience vote to determine the winner.
The show will also feature a mini-concert by Boye and performances by Jardine and other previous winners.
The Vocalist will be held August 3 in Afton, Wyoming in conjunction with the Lincoln County Fair. Tickets will be available in July here. The event will also be streamed live by SVI Media and on SVI Media’s channel on the Livestream App for mobile devices and TV streaming devices such as ROKU and Apple TV.
For more information about The Vocalist: Presented by Fall River Propane, visit the website.