The third week of NCI3 kicked off at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds Exhibition Hall on Friday, February 26, 2010. The doors opened at 6PM, and within five minutes, the 120 reserved V.I.P. seats had completely sold out! Shows you how hot this event is.

A new local band called The Townies opened the night’s entertainment. A jam band out of Adams, they combined cover tunes (like Talking Heads’ “Burning Down the House”) with original material. You can learn more about the group at their myspace page.

Paul Simmons, part-owner of the Watertown Wizards, and a big part of the force that holds NCI3 together, made the announcement that we’d be hearing from the Top 39 singers tonight, rather than 35, as there was a six-way tie for 30^th place. This news was met by loud cheers from the singers and their fans.

The theme for this round of NCI3 was Contemporary Pop/ Top 40. The song list the contestants had to choose from was pretty big, as Bud Green went a little crazy downloading popular karaoke tracks. Amazingly, even though there were 200-plus songs to choose from, the singers gravitated toward the same tunes again and again, resulting in FIVE performances of “Mercy” by Duffy, as well as multiple renditions of Uncle Kracker’s “Drift Away,” and repeats of various songs by Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock, Evanescence and Colbie Calait.

Tall Texan Vanessa Webb was the first performer of the evening, earning high marks for fashion and stage presence with her attitude-packed “No Rest For the Wicked.” Brianna Ramsey, in a cute pin-striped suit and beret, was the first to take on the night’s most popular song, “Mercy,” and was a crowd-pleaser. The first batch of singers was rounded out by Lindsey Paranzino, who did a Maroon 5 tune, Diane Bolden, a force-to-be-reckoned with, who took on Leona Lewis, and Leah Card, who aced Sheryl Crow’s “First Cut is the Deepest.”

Group two was headed up by the first male performer of the evening, Brandon Teft. After two weeks of performing country songs, Brandon tapped into his inner rock star to deliver the Fray’s “You Found Me.” Mary Corbett was the first of two singers to get tripped up by the same song: Mariah Carey’s “I Want to Know What Love Is.” After two false starts, Mary got through it, regaining her composure and showcasing her lovely voice. Nichole Eahmer sang Leona Lewis’s “Take a Bow,” Kathy Bates sang Colbie Calait and Ashley Rice gave us Kelly Clarkson’s “Breakaway.”

The third group: Mark Smith, who always gets big squeals from the crowd, sailed smoothly though “Drift Away.” Derek LeClaire, donning flip-flops, shorts, a Hawaiian shirt and his ever-present cowboy hat, ventured out of his country comfort zone and did a great job on Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long.” Marilyn Bartlett also sang Sheryl Crow’s “First Cut,” and Mandy Petrie sang the same thing. The final contestant in this set was Jourdan Irene. I asked her if taking the stage was getting easier each week. She answered “no.” However, her shyness from the week before vanished, as she belted out Miley Cyrus’s “The Climb” with confidence that only increased with every verse. I give Jourdan the Most Improved Performer of the Week award!

Leah Tidd lead the pack next, vamping it up on “Mercy” and igniting the stage with her jazzy vocals and sparkling charisma. She has her eye on another Top 3 finish for sure! Alicea Tansmore, new to NCI this year, continued to amaze, this time with the Leona Lewis song “Bleeding Love.” Alicea has one of those voices that just wallops you, and she looks beautiful onstage. Fan favorite Corey Walts was up next, introduced by his #1 fan/ stalker, Froggy 97’s own Annie Croakley. Poster-perfect Corey knocked out a lively version of “Heaven” by Los Lonely Boys. The never-boring Robert Hand, dressed in bib overalls and other fishing fashions, was the second guy to perform “All Summer Long.” Jessica Pierce, another lady who seems Top 5-bound, kept her place in the competition with her rendering  of “Love Song” by Sara Barellies.

Before intermission, Leah Tidd returned to the stage to serenade a couple of important people with “Happy Birthday.” One was her mother, and the other was Mark Gaines, General Manager of Stephens Media Group of Watertown.

The second half of the evening’s entertainment was initiated by Amanda Johnson, who, fittingly, sang Colbie Calait’s “Bubbly.” Katrina Yerger served up another helping of “Mercy.” Jake Ambrose, a guy with a lot of devoted supporters, was in fine vocal form with the night’s second performance of “Drift Away.” Linda Johnson and Hailey Gokey entertained the masses with tunes by Alicia Keys and Beyonce, respectively.

The second-to-last group was led by Ann Nortz, whose pleasant voice was a good fit for “Breakaway.” Jane Doxtater, like Mary Corbett, fell victim to Mariah’s Foreigner cover,  “I Want to Know What Love Is.” I blame this on TMR: Too Many Remixes! There was an Adult Contemporary version of this single, as well as different mixes for R&B/ Rhythmic radio, a dance mix, etc. I hope that this doesn’t hurt Mary and Jane too much, as they are both very good singers. Kristen Sanford, cheered on by her fan club, known as “Kristen’s Crew,” also performed “Realize.” The judges told her the same thing they did last year: “SMILE!! Don’t look so serious!” Kristen’s got the vocal delivery nailed down; hopefully she can cut loose and have fun next Friday night. Britney Mulvaney, the fifth and final lady to sing the ubiquitous “Mercy,” gave it her all with her song and dance routine. Britney makes Gouverneur proud! She was followed by Rebecca Branchau, who sang a believable version of  “My Immortal” by Evanescence.

Sarah Williams, a Scotland native who’s lived in the North Country for nine years, breezed through “Bubbly.” One of the female judges told her that they wished she’d chosen a different song “because we’ve heard that one so many times tonight.” Um… Excuse me??? As I pointed out, Sarah was only the second contestant to sing “Bubbly”! Whatever. Amanda Bradbury, who never turns in anything less than a top-notch performance, also took on the haunting “My Immortal.” Laura Schneider picked another Colbie Calait favorite, “Realize.” (Maybe the criticizing judge was confused by the onslaught of different Colbie songs.) Pat Gaines gave us our final helping of “Drift Away.” Juan Aguilar, an NCI newcomer this year, performed a Michael Buble tune, pleasing the judges and the crowd… and setting off a tug-of-war between me and Annie Croakley!

Finally, it was down to the last four performers of the night. Jason Stewart was the final male singer to take the stage. I am shocked that only one contestant sang “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz. Hey, Jason singing Jason… I just realized! Anyway, Jason Stewart is a good performer, very comfortable on the stage, and you just can’t go wrong with that song. Margeaux Davis AND Amanda Nappi sang Rhianna’s “Russian Roulette.” Amber Snyder was the fifth and final singer to deliver “Mercy,” and also the last performer of the night.

Some thoughts now on those who did not make the cut…

Jake Desormo’s elimination was quite a shock to me. He was the Rock Star in this competition, belting out Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive” during week one, followed by a Daughtry tune last week. I thought he would go far. Another rocker, Dylan Tucker, was also sent packing. I was optimistic that with our sister station, Z93 joining forces with us for the first time, we’d have younger men who were more into Green Day than Garth. We did... temporarily.

Patti Higgins, a 19-year-old Dexter resident, made the Top 10 last year, but saw the end of the line Friday night in this year’s competition. She’s such a sweetheart and a capable vocalist. Unfortunately, with polished song stylists like Leah Tidd and big-voiced belters like Bolden, Pierce and Tansmore, Patti got left by the wayside.

Dustin Buckley was another guy I hated to see go. He may not have been the strongest vocalist, but his Week 2 performance of “All My Friends Say” was my favorite amongst the men that night. He chose a perfect song, looked the part in his John Deere hoodie, remembered the words, stayed on-key and had mad stage presence! Hope you come back for another go-round next year, Dusty.

Jenn Pettey and Michelle Bush were two good singer who just missed the mark by thismuch. Both are very nice ladies with loads of talent. I’m sad to see them go.

Mary Collette did in fact make it through, but was a no-show. Her daughter Danielle was present, but didn’t made the Top 39. Danielle was also there to support her friend Corey Walts, so I have a feeling she’ll still be there in the NCI audience in weeks to come.

Next week is Froggy 97 Country Night. The playing field will be narrowed down to 25 singers. Good luck to all the contestants.

TTYL,

Cricket