After auditions and a four-week elimination process, 2007’s MSU Idol has produced a winner.”We had a lot of people [in attendance this year],” said Bekah Buckley, entertainment division head of the Campus Activities Board. “We averaged at least 250 people a night, and at finals around 400 people showed up. That’s a lot of people, and we heard nothing but good things about it.”
Audience members voted on each elimination, Buckley said.
“The audience liked that they can participate,” she said. “They’re the ones who voted the entire time. They’re the ones who chose who won.”
This year’s MSU Idol is sophomore communication major Daniel Gregory. He entered the competition with few aspirations other than having a good time.
“I wanted to get involved so I could meet a lot of people and make new friends, and that’s definitely what happened,” he said.
The final competition took place Monday night in Lee Hall Auditorium. The other three finalists were Brittany Boggan, Sherman Green and Baleigh Barham. Gregory and Boggan are both members of local band Blackjack Road. At the competition, Boggan was accompanied onstage by the rest of the band, excluding Gregory.
“It was really funny that we both made it to the top four,” Gregory said. “Normally I would have been playing with them.”
The first round’s musical selections were all Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson numbers, but still the audience was presented with some variety.
Green opened the competition with a performance of Jackson’s soft love song “You Are Not Alone.” Boggan then sped things up with a performance of Presley’s “Burning Love.” Barham continued the fast song trend with Presley’s “Trouble,” with Gregory ending the first round with Presley’s ballad “I Did It My Way.”
All the judges’ reviews of the first round were positive. During the intermission, the audience was treated to a dance performance by two young members of Dancing Feet Academy and to speeches by MSU Student Association presidential candidates Jeremy Johnson and Aaron Rice. After the intermission it was announced that the two performers receiving the most votes were Gregory and Barham.
“I was really surprised when I made it to the top two,” Gregory said. “I totally thought that one of the other people had me beat.”
Barham’s final song was the soft worship song “Redeemer.” Gregory’s was a piano and vocal piece of his own composition titled “You Make Me Want to Fly.”
During the second voting intermission, Miss MSU Danielle Smith performed an “acrojazz” dance number, and Melanie Counts, last year’s MSU Idol winner, sang Bonnie Raitt’s “Something to Talk About.” Following these performances, the winner was announced.
After receiving his winnings, Gregory performed another song of his own composition.
His prize package included $250 and prizes from Aspen Bay, Bulldog Lanes, the Purple Elephant and Chick-fil-A.
“The best prize of all was the 30-minute massage,” Gregory said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Gregory will also receive money for a trip to an “American Idol” audition in Birmingham, Ala., or Nashville, Tenn.
“We really had a good time with [the competition],” Buckley said. “I think everybody else enjoyed it. We thought it went really well.”
Gregory encourages everyone interested to try out for MSU Idol next year.
“It was a very good experience,” he said. “Even if you don’t make it all the way, it’s a blast, and you get to meet all kinds of fun people. It’s definitely worth it.