KT Laslo triumphs as Orcas Idol 2010. Behind her are Charly Robinson, who sang "Single Girls" and Jared Grantham, who sang "Mad World" and "Jack's Lament"
KT Laslo was the people’s choice for Orcas Idol 2010, singing her heart out and charming the audiences through three rounds of competition to win the award over nine other contestant acts.
For the first round of Jazz-Pop songs, KT sang “I’ll Stand by You.” Along with the Stephen Baker- Julia Bailey duo, Carl Burger, Marissa Veldman, Jared Grantham, and Arianna and Jason Dean, KT advanced to the second round where she transformed into the Mermaid Ariel to sing “Part of Your World.”
In the final, Country-Folk round, Stephen Baker and Julia Bailey sang “Two Is Better Than One,” Marissa Veldman sang “Jump, then Fall” and KT blew the audience out of water with singing and dancing to “Any Man of Mine.”
Marissa Veldman sings a bluesy ballad, "Only Hope" in the "free choice" round of Orcas Idol. Photo courtesy of Chris Gill/West Boundary Photography/OIPP
Judges Gene Nery, Grace McCune and Terry Anderson commented on each act, and Gordon Koenig and Anita Orne emceed the show with fast-paced banter and, for Anita, stunning dress changes, courtesy of Gordeaux’s, her husband’s dress shop. Last year’s Idol, Pamela Wright, sang a wrenching and triumphant “Sober” (“How do I feel this good sober?”) as recorded by Pink.
Orcas Island Prevention Partnership organized and sponsored the fund-raising event, steered by a committee composed of Donna Laslo, Jeanne Beck, Cheryl Kummer, Moriah Armstrong, Julie Pinardi, and Margie Sabine. Donna Laslo, who has coordinated and produced the show for the last three years, will have a title change next year, that of “Artistic Director.”
She commented that, just when she thought the show’s concept may have run out of steam, along comes the fabulous wealth of talent of auditioners for Orcas Idol 2010.
Stephen Baker and Julia Bailey sing in the first round of Orcas Idol. Photo courtesy of Chris Gill/West Boundary Photography/Chris Gill
This year’s finale coordinated sophisticated sound and lighting, including a revolving light, rose petal, confetti and balloon drops, and inter-act entertainment and introductions by Michael Jackson mime Matthew White and by Bee-Gee impersonators Jim Shaffer-Bauck, Freddy Hinkle and Matthew White.
A NFO (Normal for Orcas) occurrence preceded the Idol Finale, when KT was in charge of finalizing the sound systems for the Saturday night performance. A 45-minute island-wide power outage on Friday afternoon challenged KT as she was making the final sound-check. But by Saturday evening, the system worked near-perfectly, with only the judges struggling with their mikes.
The winners of the Orcas Idol Junior competition, Emmy and Lisa Carter, again performed “Connected,” and joined the other Orcas Idol Junior competitors and the judges to sing “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
Other competitors in Orcas Idol 2010 were Brian Benepe and Heather Stansbury, Susan Weiss, and Charly Robinson.
As Orcas Idol 2010, KT wins $200 cash prize given by the show’s main sponsor, Radio Shack, and a recording session with Jim Bredouw.
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