THE WESTHAMPTON VERSION OF AMERICAN IDOL

By Janet Berg

At the first time "Hampton Idol" competition, held Friday evening at Westhampton Beach High School's new 800-seat auditorium, hundreds of folks wished the performers good luck, avoiding the expression "Break a Leg," as it was held on Friday the 13th.

Mimicking the "American Idol" buzz, the Southampton Town Youth Bureau, made up mostly of kids, advocated the idea of creating and planning their own talent search, with the help of three adults, director Nancy Lynott, Keith Phillips and stage manager Frank Cento.

The 34 students auditioned in February at the Southampton Cultural Center, where judges picked the top twenty vocalists from Eastport to Sag Harbor. Their ages range 6th to 11th grade. Two of the finalists dropped out at the last minute due to other conflicts. Contestants chose their own music and were judged by three professionals -- Tony Arfi of Power Play Music Studio in Westhampton Beach, who sponsored the show, Jan Hanna, Co-owner of Black Sheep Television, Ltd. and Jeremy Flanagan, Vocal Music teacher at Hampton Bays Secondary School. The contestants were judged on their appearance, stage presence and song choice. Ms. Lynott said, "It's all about being a positive experience -- no Simon Cowells in sight. We plan on running the show every year as long as there's an interest to showcase talent in our communities."

Each performer picked their own, recorded musical background or brought a guitar or keyboard, and was provided with a microphone, amplifier, and CD player. Then, they and the butterflies in their stomachs were on their own. In total, fourteen girls and four boys participated, including Jacqueline Saccente and Julian Dankner of Westhampton Beach; Kelsie Sanabria, Serina Booth, Priscilla Benavides, Brittany Tedesco, Ashley Bennett and Abigail Kraycar of Hampton Bays; Graham Sutherland, Laura Nikolich, Dakota Kalbacher, Kristin Steinke and Alexandra Wilson of Southampton; Nicole Mahoney and Seneca Smith from Our Lady of the Hamptons; Peter Cybulski of Riverhead; Rafaela Gurtler of Pierson and Nicholas Casula of Eastport South Manor.

In the first round, each performer had a three-minute time limit onstage. Judges sat among the audience. The young Master of Ceremonies, Hernan Cordoba, looked debonair in his suit and handled the mic like a pro, going into the audience and pulling ladies up by their hands to dance in the aisles while he sang to "Everybody Dance Now."

"Come on people," he prompted, "we need to stay awake for three hours!" He'd intermittently shout out for the crowd to put their hands together, and howled the "Randy" Dog-Pound impression. "All right, I want to hear the people from Southampton..." Cheers came from the audience, as he held the microphone above his head under the spotlight. At times, he joked and teased the crowd, begging to be heckled in good fun.

The hairstyles of the boys were spiked or surfer-like -- the girls mostly wore their hair long, straight or wavy, off to the side, or in relaxed ponytails. The attire of the all-American cast varied, from baby doll tops and jeans with boots to gowns adorned with silver sequins and sparkly high heels.

Fifteen-year-old Ashley Bennett said at first she was nervous about the competition being held on Friday the 13th, because she doesn't usually wear high heels, and was afraid she'd fall on her face.

The contestants' individuality showed through their song choices, which included tunes from Broadway's Wicked, Les Miserables and Cabaret. Some featured themselves as their favorite artists, like Celine Dion or Alisha Keyes.

All eighteen are shining stars, each offering different qualities. Kelsie Sanabria's voice was so beautiful it "Hurt." Little Nicole Mahoney, who sings like a bird, chose two perfect songs -- "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "God Bless America," which got a standing ovation. Brittany Tedesco exuded coolness as she belted out "Before He Cheats" by Carrie Underwood. She worked the stage, making it look oh, so easy. Rafaela Gurtler's rich voice was touching as she dedicated her song to her parents.

Ashley Bennett's version of "Unfaithful" by Rihanna was mesmerizing, never losing a beat, while appearing not to take a breath. Abigail Kraycar was adorable behind her big guitar, strumming it along to "Let the River Run." It was clearly not an easy decision to narrow it down to the top seven finalists, who returned to the stage with their second song choice. When Ms. Lynott said they've been talking about audience voting next year by text messaging, the first thing that came to mind is the "Sanjaya-effect." Even a big TV network has to work the kinks out.

After the first performance round, there was a stretch break, and footage on a big screen of the Hampton Idol auditions. Cordoba did the Seacrest misleading routine -- "And the top seven winners are... We'll tell you AFTER the break!" While waiting for the results, there was an expressive dance performance by A & G (Adam and Gail) Dance Company.

Two first prizes were awarded to one male and one female -- the angelic Kristin Steinke and the sentimental Peter Cybulski. Second Place went to Ashley Bennett and Third Place was a two-way tie for Brittany Tedesco and Kelsie Sanabria. Kristin humbly giggled, "I really didn't expect to win!" All went home with gift certificates and trophies on their very lucky day -- Friday the 13th.