Speakers blared the American Idol theme song in the auditorium Thursday, Sept. 22 as viewers took their seats. Emcee of the night, senior Dalton Dallas, danced his way to the microphone. The lights dimmed.

            It was time for Marcus Idol.

            Dallas introduced the first of the 13 contestants. The winner of the competition was to receive four free voice lessons, courtesy of MMOV Studios. The first contestant was junior Danielle Barozinsky, singing Put Your Record On by Corrine Bailey Rae.

            “I wanted to throw-up,” Barozinsky said. “I usually don’t get nervous, but I was then. There was a lot of excitement.”

            Senior Amanda Egan, sophomore Rachel Fenderson, junior Callie Cowart and senior Josh Wright followed. At the sound of Wright’s name, screams and shouts arose in the crowd. This was Wright’s third time in the Marcus Idol competition. As a sophomore, he received second place, and as a junior, he placed third. Before his rendition of Michael Buble’s Cry Me a River ended, the audience was on their feet.

            “I was a little nervous, but it was my last time to do Marcus Idol, so I really wanted to have fun with it,” Wright said.

            After a brief intermission, junior Lara Peterson, senior Caitlyn Franks, senior Lauren Braun and juniors Robyn McGhee and Tori Micaletti took the stage. Singing If I Die Young by the Band Perry, McGhee added a country twang to the competition.

            “The lyrics were really powerful to me,” McGhee said.

            After another brief intermission, junior Kimberly Pine, freshman Haley Sutherland and junior James Nelson sang. Nelson’s performance of Fast Cars by Tracy Chapman brought shouts from the audience and many viewers were on their feet for this final performance of the night.

            “I didn’t have to practice too much because I had already played the song on my guitar, so I knew how to sing it,” Nelson said.

Lines crowded the voting tables as audience members slipped dollar bills into the contestant’s box of their choosing. A third of the voting was based on the audience and the other two-thirds was based on the votes of judges Michael and Marqui Maresca, co-owners of MMOV Studios. After a final tally, the results were confirmed in the auditorium.

            The contestants stood along the red curtain backdrop of the stage. The lights dimmed. Dallas announced the names. Third place was given to Robyn McGhee, second to James Nelson and first to Josh Wright. The crowd screamed and rushed to congratulate the winners on their night of fame.

           “I felt like a rock star,” Wright said.