Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Winning first place in the "Voice in the Valley" competition was Kimball's Tom O'Brien, center, and second went to Ellie Kimmel of Alliance. Joining them are competition judges. From left are Lauren Newell, Patrick Newell, O'Brien, Kimmel, Debby Wagner and Ty Hebbert.
Theatre West sponsored the 2nd annual Voice in the Valley contest Jan. 10-11 and 17-18. Kimball's Tom O'Brien nailed down first place, beating out 20 individuals in the semifinals and four in the finals.
O'Brien said of his win, "It was pretty cool. I had known about it last year but didn't get entered. I thought, 'Why not? I haven't done anything like that.' It was lots of fun."
O'Brien sang a Michael Buble arrangement of a song, "Feelin' Good," for the blind auditions and the semifinals. "Feelin' Good" was from a 1960s musical called "The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd."
The semifinals and finals were held on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 17 and 18, and O'Brien sang a selection from "Hamilton" titled "You'll be Back" and completed his winning style with "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" for the finals.
The Voice in the Valley was patterned after the hit NBC show, "The Voice."
The blind auditions were Jan. 10-11. The following weekend were the semifinals, and eventually the finalists were selected.
The finals were conducted with live musicians on piano, bass and guitar. All the previous events were conducted with recorded tracks.
Much like "The Voice," singers were provided with a coaching session from the judges, which included voice lessons, how and what to sing, and stage presence.