|
Xavier Idol II winner, Betty Harris, belts out her winning
performance, in front of a crowd in the Gallagher Student
center.
Newswire Photo Courtesy
of Brian Angolia |
Kuhlman Hall employee and Weekend Degree Program student Betty
Harris came out on top of freshman Dan Brown in the Xavier Idol
II finale Friday evening in the Gallagher Student Center.
Over 100 people came to see the Xavier Idol II finale, sponsored
by the Xavier Players and hosted by sophomore Paul DiMaria.
In the competition based on FOX’s popular reality series
“American Idol,” the two finalists each sang two songs
before audience members voted for their favorite.
Harris sang her rendition of “Killing Me Softly” and
an inspirational song she learned from an episode of the sitcom
“Martin,” while Brown performed Elton John’s
“Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” and Barenaked Ladies’
“One Week.”
Beginning in October, more than 20 people came to the open auditions,
from which judges chose 10 for the first round. Judges then chose
seven from those 10 to compete in the second round. In the remaining
three rounds, audience members voted for their favorite five,
three and then two finalists.
Harris received the grand prize, which is a trip to New York City
with the Xavier Players later this year. She has participated
in competitions before, but this is the first one in which she
has come out a winner. She also participated in open auditions
for the first Xavier Idol competition last year, but was not chosen
by the judges as one of the 10 to advance to the first round.
“I love singing,” said Harris. “I want to make
it in the music industry…. Whitney Houston is my role model.”
Aside from working, school and singing, Harris is very devoted
to her family, including her five-year-old daughter.
This was the second year for the Xavier Idol competition, and
the Xavier Players hope to host a third Xavier Idol next year.
