Ole Miss Idol finals were held last night in the Student Union food court. Six talented finalists competed for the prize but LaTonya Herron reigned supreme with her awe-inspiring renditions of “Hero” by Mariah Carey and “Summertime” from the musical, “Porgy and Bess”. Along with bragging rights, Herron also won five hundred dollars and has the opportunity to sing all over campus for different events.
The night was full of phenomenal performances. The night kicked off with two performances from last year’s Ole Miss Idol winner, Matt Duck. He performed a hauntingly beautiful version of Adele’s, “Someone Like You”. Then he performed a much more fun number, “Heartache Tonight”, by The Eagles.
Then came a performance from another former Ole Miss Idol, Dominique McClellan, who was named Ole Miss Idol in 2009. He sang the Maroon 5 classic, “She Will Be Loved”. Before he performed he informed the large crowd that he would be appearing on a very popular reality competition this summer. While he could not tell the crowd which show he was going to be on because of contract reasons he did reassure the crowd that, “ it is going to be big and you will all know about it.”
The six finalists sang two songs of personal choice in two rounds. Both rounds went in random order. The songs ranged from Broadway classics to pop songs to Motown standards.
The night was full of many surprises. After performing a nearly flawless version of Celine Dion’s “I Surrender”, Tiffany Boyte was exiting the stage when the stairs literally collapsed underneath her causing her to fall to the ground. She was a great sport about it. She hopped right up, brushed herself off, and took a bow, which resulted in a huge round of applause from the audience. Other surprises were much less dangerous. Some of the contestants spiced up their performances by doing costume changes in between rounds.
Boyte did just that. When she came on for her second round to sing “Proud Mary” she was channeling her inner Tina Turner not only in her costume selection but in her dance moves too earning her one of the most entertaining performances of the night.
However the most entertaining performance of the night, without a doubt, goes to Jacob Hickman. In his first performance he made the girls swoon with his version of “Lost” by Michael Buble. For his second selection he sang “I Feel Good” by James Brown. He showed off his great dance moves then showed off some other skills. He threw his sunglasses and his jacket into the audience to reveal a Superman cape. His performance had everyone laughing and dancing.
Though Hickman had the most entertaining performance, no one could touch Herron’s vocals according to Ole Miss student, Ty Penny, who was been to every Ole Miss Idol this year. “We all knew she was gonna win from the beginning. When the singing is that phenomenal, you don’t need dance moves and everything like that. All you need is awesome singing and that is what she has had from day one, truly amazing singing.”
This is the seventh year that the Student Programming Board has put on Ole Miss Idol.
“It’s such a great thing to happen on campus. It is a great way for shy students to get involved or for students to inspire other students,” said Chase Aertker , the co-director of entertainment for the Student Programming Board.
