WATERTOWN, NY - Week four of North Country Idol 3 kicked off this past Friday, March 5th, with all four participants from Gouverneur having been amongst the top 25...

On Friday March 5, 2010, the Fairgrounds Exhibition Hall was swarming with cowboy hats, boots and plenty of excitement. It was Round 4 of NCI3, and tonight the Top 39 singers would become the Top 25. It was also the first week that fans can vote for their favorites at the end of the show.

-I can reveal now that we WOULD have heard 26 contestants sing, but Juan Aguiar, who DID make it through, either didn’t show up or showed up past the registration deadline of 7:15. That’s too bad… I like Juan’s style and he’s a really sweet guy. Hope to see him back next year.

The evening’s entertainment commenced with another indescribable

performance by Al Walts, from our sister station WTNY. He bellowed his way through Ringo Starr’s “You’re Sixteen.” Wow.

Next, a contemporary country band, the Bandits, took the stage. Their repertoire included covers of tunes we play on Froggy 97, by artists like Keith Urban and Kenny Chesney. They kept it uptempo and rockin’. The crowd seemed to dig ‘em, especially during the last couple of tunes, “Eight Second Ride” and “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy.”

The backstage buzz is that NCI3 is shaping up to be very much a Ladies’ Game, and the first five singers up to bat were all...