Area’s top talent earns praise at Northern Star event
By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — As performers waited behind the CPAC curtain for their shot at becoming the next Northern Star on Feb. 27, judges vocalized their high standards for the next singing sensation; they expected the 2011 Northern Star to own the stage, possess ample God-given talent, have the skill to make the song they performed their own and above all, “they need to bring it,” said judge Samantha Boutot. Nineteen-year-old DeShawn Lamarr Russell exceeded all of those expectations.
Owning the stage and captivating the audience, Russell’s talent is not only God-given but God-blessed — even Gabriel himself may have very well sat down and harkened to hear Russell’s exceptional octave-spanning, clef-defying vocals to first “Ave Maria” as performed by Beyonce Knowles, and then “You” as performed by Jesse Powell to clinch his title during the final-three competition to determine who was the top soloist in the region.
“Talk about raw talent,” said Northern Star judge Dan Ladner. “Not only do you hit that high not on the ‘Ave Maria’ once, but you hit it perfectly three times and that’s unbelievable.”
What many in the audience found to be truly unbelievable, however, was that Russell was turned away from American Idol when he auditioned back in 2007.
“I’m thinking that American Idol should do a recount right about now,” said event co-host Jason Parent; his comment was met by resounding applause from the audience.
Originally from Bridgeport, Conn. and currently residing in Limestone while he attends the Loring Job Corps Center, Russell felt incredible after winning the title.
“I feel so great, it’s like a blessing,” he said.
The judges, on the other hand, seemed to have felt blessed to witness Russell’s performance, two of which mentioned that it was a privilege to hear him sing.
After Russell stunned the crowd with his performance of “You,” judge Jason Anderson couldn’t seem to say enough about the teenage vocalist.
“I just heard every single one of my favorite R&B artists from like 1961 until now in that performance … you are Luther Vandross incarnate,” Anderson told Russell. “You worked an audience without lifting a finger and you make it look so effortless.”
For his first performance as the 2011 Northern Star, many of his fans and friends from the Loring Job Corps Center rushed the auditorium to listen stage-front as Russell, again, hit every note of “Ave Maria” with remarkable brilliance that one would truly expect from a Northern Star.
But Russell wasn’t alone at the top of the world on Sunday night; he was joined by the two winners of the Northern Star United, siblings Gabrielle, 16, and Christian, 13, Sirois of Drummond, N.B.
According to the brother-sister duo, the pair spent a full week preparing for their performance and any audience member could attest to the fact that it certainly paid off.
The two chose to sing the song “I Believe in You” by Il Divo — a song that their mother, Sylive, said means a lot to them. It must have meant a lot to the judges as well, because they were pretty blown away.
“If that wasn’t harmonizing, I don’t know what was,” said Boutot. “You both have that star quality that people look for; you have it all — the matching outfits, the voices, everything.”
Anderson even called upon the duo’s parents in the middle of event, saying that they must be “two of the proudest parents in the world.”
Their mother, Sylvie, confirmed Anderson’s questions after the show.
“We’re so proud of them and so happy,” she said.
Though siblings are notorious for squabbling, Gabrielle and Christian work together very well and it showed in their performance.
“I love hearing siblings harmonize,” said Anderson, adding how the harmony between siblings has that synchronized quality typical in twins.
But the Sirois weren’t the only siblings working together during the Feb. 27 competition; performing sequentially immediately after the Sirois was a group called The Triplets, which feature a pair of twins among their trio.
“Jason, we took to heart what you said about siblings and twins, so we brought you this group,” event co-hostess Claudia Stevens said jokingly as The Triplets were presented to the judges.
Anderson’s comments on the harmony of siblings was not lost on the group, whose upbeat melodics of “We’ll Be a Dream” as performed We the King and Demi Lovato left the judge literally speechless.
When he gathered his words a few moments later, Anderson told the group “that was just awesome, that really was so cool.”
Ladner was equally impressed with the trio, which is made up of 14-year-old twin sisters Naomi and Nokomi Ouellette of Lac Baker, N.B. and Arianne Richards, 12, of Clair, N.B.
“I love harmony, and when I hear women’s three part voices like that in harmony, it’s like an angelic choir … and that’s probably the closest I’ll ever get,” he joked.
Lander was so impressed with The Triplets that he made up a word for their complementary voices, “blendation” describing how one voice didn’t overpower the others and the three performed in beautiful harmony.
Much of the evening’s show-stopping talent came from New Brunswick, including 18-year-old Megan Ouellette of Clair, N.B. She may have only been the fourth Northern Star finalist to perform, but some audience members already had her pegged for the next Northern Star.
“I can see ‘it’ in my students, I can see ‘it’ in my colleagues and I can see ‘it’ in you; it’s with you and it’s never going away,” Anderson told the teen after her performance of “Oh Darling” by The Beatles. “What a soulful interpretation of that song; Paul McCartney’s won just about every award on every continent in every galaxy, and you gave him a run for his money,” Anderson added. “That was tremendous.”
Ladner complimented Ouellette on her outstanding vocals, and, issuing a warning of “at the risk of being a dirty old man,” jested that there were benefits to watching her performance from behind; audience members were nearly rolling in the aisles with laughter.
Based on her rendition of the Beatles classic, the audience voted Megan Ouellette to the top three soloists, where she joined other people’s choice contestant Russell and the judge’s pick, Robert Helstrom, 59, of Washburn.
The first performer of the evening, Helstrom sang “At this Moment” by Billy Verna and set the bar high for his competition.
“You really came out running full bore, didn’t you?” Anderson asked the 59-year-old band director of the Fort Fairfield Middle/High School. “That was fantastic — great presence, great feeling, raw emotion and you had a great personal take on that song.”
Despite Helstrom’s obvious talent, showmanship and natural ability, many in the audience will remember his professionalism above all because of his response to a technical glitch.
For his final-three performance, Helstrom was slated to sing the song “God Bless the Child.” Instead, the song “Desperado” was cued up.
Without missing a beat or even batting an eyelash, Helstrom dove right into the ballad with passion, soul and quite a range.
“I was impressed that with your baritone voice you were able to get up into that tenor range without getting your head voice or falsetto,” Ladner said.
It wasn’t until the second judge spoke with Helstrom that the error was identified.
“So you were supposed to sing “God Bless the Child,” but then that song started playing so you decided to say ‘what the heck, I’ll sing this one?’” Boutot questioned Helstrom.
“It seemed like the thing to do,” Helstom responded with a smile.
Boutot told Helstrom not only that he was awesome, but that it seemed to her that performing was what he was born to do.
“I thought this show was unbelievably good,” said Claudia Stevens of the United Way of Aroostook. “We have had many comments on the show as it being the best one ever but we hear that every year. Just when we think it is as good as it gets, it gets better!”
According to Stevens, the final figures regarding just how much fund-raising was accomplished for the United Way through the Northern Star competitions were not quite finished being tabulated as of Tuesday afternoon, but will surpass $28,000.
Other talented performers during the show included:
• Wyatt Jenkins, 18, of Houlton, who sang “Hollywood” by Michael Bublè. Ladner told Jenkins, “I couldn’t help but think of “American Idol” on TV and think that you’re much better than a lot of those contestants.”
• Brandon Clark, 17, of Houlton, who sang “Mad World” by Gary Jules. Boutot told Clark, “I liked how you started really soft with you song and got stronger [as it progressed].”
• Todd Corey, 43, of Mars Hill, who sang “Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison. Anderson asked the audience, “When I close my eyes and listen to him, all I could hear was Waylon Jennings, does anybody else hear that?” to which the audience cheered.
• Courtney Birt, 18, of Fort Kent, who sang “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going,” by Jennifer Hudson. Ladner told Birt, “I thought you had total control of that song.”
• Cissy Buck, 28, of Caribou, who sang “Killing me Softly,” as performed by The Fugees. Anderson told Buck, “I think you had the audience eating out of the palm of your hand waiting to hear the next phrase; really great performance.”
• Indya Ouellette, 14, of Madawaska, who sang “Never Alone” by Lady Antebellum, accompanied by her boyfriend Ryan Remalia on acoustic guitar. After Ladner got over the shock of Ouellette being only 14, he told the young singer that she has a very powerful voice and, “I thought you were a great singer and I can see why you made it here to the finals.”
• Darci St. Pierre, 22, and Brenda Ellis, 28, both of Houlton, together performed “Rockin’ with the Rhythm of the Rain” by The Judds. Boutot told the duo, “What a great beat for this song, great audience involvement; you seem like you’re fun-loving gals!”
This is the second year of the Northern Star competition, formerly Aroostook Idol, and the event continues to gain popularity, much like 2010 Northern Star Isabelle Pelletier, 13 of St. Jacques, N.B.; within the past year she’s gone on to win Maritime Idol in Canada and performed five 45-minute shows in Europe — two in Switzerland and three in France.
While Northern Star continues to be a great opportunity for the United Way of Aroostook to raise funds, it also presents United Way officials with an opportunity to travel throughout the County to the areas that they serve and let people know what the organization is doing to help people in their communities, something that Russell and the Sirois will be a part of for 2011.
“In the coming year United Way will be asking our winners to be present at a few of our events but they will receive a lot of requests from the public for various singing opportunities that they will pick and choose what they want to participate in,” Stevens said.
The event has been overwhelmingly received by both United Way officials and community members as another successful event highlighting the talented individuals of the area, but what’s next for 2012?
“I think you will see Northern Star continue to grow next year and I anticipate that we will have more groups participating,” Stevens predicted.
