A fun vocal extravaganza at the Hop, with a 20-piece band and backup singers and a sell-out crowd.. There were 6 finalists: Nikhil Arora, Grace Carney, Stephanie Everett, Sean Haughey, Chelsea Lim, and Jimmy Ragan.
They all did a really good job, but for me, the standout was Nikhil Arora with a smooth, flawless “I’m not the Only One” by Sam Smith. My second vote was Chelsea Lim, particularly for her duet in the second half. Interestingly, all 3 in my party had the same votes.
It turns out that the winner was Grace Carney, a previous finalist, and a strong performer and singer. The crowd loved her version of “Creep” by Radiohead, but I found her voice a bit too screechy in parts.
The concert was very professional, but sometimes Walt Cunningham seemed to take too much attention and time. This was especially apparent for the last duet, where he made extensive thank you’s while Nikhil and Grace waited to perform “Stairway to Heaven”.
Judges:
- Kaitlyn Sheehan Ramirez ’09 Tuck ’16 (idol contestant)
- Jake Gaba ’16, last year’s winner but not particularly eloquent as a judge
- Tara Joshi ’18
Hosts
- Carina Conti ’16, just finishing from the lead in Dartmouth Theater’s “Chicago”
- Aaron Cheese ’18
- Nick Vernice ’18