Can you sing? Want to be recorded and have a professional photo shoot to include in your portfolio? Apply to be Calvert’s Next Idol! For the third year in a row, Calvert Library is partnering with Garrett Music Academy to present a local, younger version of popular television series American Idol. Singers will compete according to age. There will be three categories: ages 8-10, ages 11-14, and ages 15-17. The audition date is Friday, July 15 at 6:00pm at Calvert Library Prince Frederick. Registration can be done online through the library website (calvert.lib.md.us) or by requesting a printed application. If you are using a CD, please bring the music you will be singing. Make sure that the original artist’s vocals are not present on the recording by getting the karaoke track for the song you will be singing. You will sing the shorter of up to one minute of the song or the first verse through the first chorus. Background harmonies may remain in the song. Several competitors will be selected that evening to continue to the Final Competition the next night, Saturday, July 16 at 6:00pm at the Calvert Library Prince Frederick.
Contestants must be Calvert County residents. Participants’ parents/legal guardians will be asked to sign a media release consent form at registration so a parent must attend with their child or sign a form prior to the event. Winners are selected based on a variety of criteria that span the quality of the live performance, technique, pitch, rhythm and intonation, and entertainment value. The judges will comment on the performance and may interact with the contestant by asking questions and making comments. After the last contestant of each age group has auditioned, the judges will go into a closed-door session to decide those winners that will go on to Finals. They will re-emerge that night with the list of finalists. For Finals, contestants will sing up to two minutes and be judged using the same criteria as the first night. Finalists do not have to use the same song but may do so. Decisions of the judges are final. One winner per category will receive a free demo recording in a state-of-the art recording studio, and a professional photo shoot to accompany the recording session.
This year the judges for the first round are Cindy Voshell, Charles Harris and Tom Dahrens. Nashville producer Tom Dahrens is also a music writer and has produced dozens of artists in Nashville and worked in the area’s most prestigious studios. Music videographer, Charles Harris from Southern Maryland has worked with many nationally known rap artists such as P. Diddy and Lil’ Kim. Recording artist, choir/theater director, and long-time voice and choral music teacher, Cindy Voshell will round out the panel for Friday. On Saturday, the judges will be Tom Dahrens, as well as Deanna Dove and Jerry McGaughran. McGaughran, lifelong vocalist and brass musician, plays with the Calvert Brass Consortium, Calvert Dance Band and directs two choirs. Dove is a local singer/songwriter gone big. She performs from New Jersey to the Caribbean and with four albums, gets radio playtime around the world. For more information, call the Calvert Library Prince Frederick at 410-535-0291 or 301-855-1862 or check the website at calvert.lib.md.us.
