Northern Stars set to shine Friday

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — Local vocalists will show off their singing chops Friday as the annual Northern Star singing competition hits the stage of Houlton’s Community Arts Center.
    The event, which is a major fundraiser for the United Way of Aroostook, is the first of three regional competitions. Six solo acts and one group take the stage at 7 p.m.
    Additional regional events take place Friday, March 9, at the Presque Isle Middle School Auditorium and Friday, March 16 at the Fox Auditorium at the University of Maine at Fort Kent. The finale is slated for Friday, March 25 at the Caribou Performing Arts Center.
    The card of singers for Friday’s show in Houlton include six solo acts and one group. Scheduled to perform are Jim Ivers, Helene Thompson, Zacharia Harvey, Mark Fuller, Nicholas Lunn and Brandon Clark, along with a duo performance by Brittany Suitter and Cassidy Nason.
    “We are still accepting applications for Friday’s show,” said Claudia Stevens, United Way of Aroostook’s executive director. “Additional acts can still be added to the show by contacting us at 764-5197.”
    As in years past, audiences will vote to determine which singers move on from the regional shows to the finale. A panel of judges will again serve as commentators. Organizers will continue with changes they made to the judges panel last year when they went away from having the same three judges appear at each regional venue. Instead, three local judges from that specific region will sit on each panel. At the end of each production, the audience will determine, by applause, which of the three judges at their regional venue will “move on” to serve as a judge at the finale.
    The three local judges for the Houlton competition will Jason Anderson, Nancy Ketch and Margaret Hill.
    Previous winners of the singing competition include: Renee Cavagnaro (2005) of Caribou; Samantha Boutot (2006) of Fort Kent; Annie Charles (2007) of Limestone; Erin Buck (2008) of Caribou; Pam Cyr (2009) of Fort Kent; Isabelle Pelletier (2010) of St. Jacques, New Brunswick; and Dashawn Russell (2011) of Loring Commerce Center.
    Charles will perform at the Houlton show, Stevens said.
    Admission to each regional production will be $10. All proceeds from funds raised at the door will go directly to the United Way of Aroostook’s annual campaign. Since the United Way of Aroostook launched the original “Aroostook Idol,” later renamed “Northern Star,” it has drawn more than 150 competitors to the stage. It also has raised more than $150,000 to benefit agencies funded by the United Way in Aroostook County.