‘Northern Stars’ hope to shine Friday
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE —Sixteen singers from central Aroostook and Victoria County, N.B. will vie for votes Friday night in order to advance to the Northern Star finale. Formerly named Aroostook Idol, this week’s showdown is the second of three regional performances to find the top vocalist, which will be called the Northern Star, and group (Northern Stars United). The central Aroostook show will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, March 9 at the Presque Isle Middle School auditorium.
Northern Star is a singing competition that serves as a major fundraiser for the United Way of Aroostook.
The performers — as of presstime — include Megan Ouellette of Van Buren, who will sing “A Broken Wing,” Dan Rooney (“Turn the Page”), Josh Doughty (“Long Black Train”), Yvette Stephens (“Honey on My Grave”) and Todd Corey (“Free”), all of Presque Isle; Keith Ouellette (“Colder Weather”), Alyson Michaud (“Gravity”), Cissy Buck (“Rolling in the Deep”), Kristen Mazur (“Black Velvet”), Deanna Jordan (“Defying Gravity”), Tim Heary (“Who’s Your Daddy?”), Beth Diamond (“I Feel Like a Woman”) and Raeann Michaud (“You Were Meant For Me”), all of Caribou; Robert Helstrom (“Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You”) of Washburn, Marielle Ouellette (“Bobby McGee”) of Drummond, N.B. and Mallory Parsons (“Old Love Song”) of Tilley, N.B.
In addition, Rooney and Doughty are the only group act registered as of now, and they will perform “Fishin’ in the Dark.”
“We are excited that we are once again inviting participants from New Brunswick and adding the new group element to this year’s competition. We look forward to hearing many talented singers and groups in each of the regional shows,” said Claudia Stevens, executive director of the United Way of Aroostook. “Singers are encouraged to present selections from any genre, and in English, French or any combination of languages. They should be wonderful shows.”
Typically held in February, organizers decided to hold the competition in March this year.
“We wanted to try something new in terms of the dates for our shows,” said Stevens, who will co-host the show with Jason Parent. “We have been very successful with our regional competitions being held in February in the past, but always end up with singers who cannot participate because of the busy nature of the month. Between high school sports and other community activities, some very talented performers cannot join in. This — coupled with the winter weather challenges we sometimes face in February — were the reasons for the move to March.”
As in years past, audiences will vote to determine which singers move on to the finale, which will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 25 at the Caribou Performing Arts Center. 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 celebrity judges from that specific region will sit on each panel. At the end of each regional production, the audience will determine, by applause, which of the three judges will “move on” to serve as a judge at the finale.
Judges for Friday night’s show include Dan Ladner, Cissy Libby and Rod Thompson.
Stevens said her hope for the regional competitions is to “continue having the level of talent that we’ve had in prior years.”
“The talent has been outstanding and always surprises me,” she said. “I’m confident that will happen again this year.”
Since its inception in 2005, Northern Star has raised approximately $177,000 for the United Way.
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.
For more information, call the United Way of Aroostook at (207) 764-5197.
