U of Idol comes to a close

U of Idol comes to a close

By Martha Spalding

After six long weeks of Pat Benatar wannabes and karaoke rock stars, the U of Idol competition ended near 1:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, when the finalist was named.

KJ McKinnie, a legal assistant from Champaign, was the judges’ choice and winner of the first annual 2006 U of Idol competition held Tuesday, March 14, at the Canopy Club, 708 S. Goodwin Ave.

When asked on stage how it felt to win, McKinnie said, with her hands to her mouth in surprise, “Like I want to hurl and pee at the same time.”

As her grand prize for winning, McKinnie received a five-day cruise to the Bahamas for four and the opportunity to sing the national anthem at a Schaumburg Flyer’s baseball game.

McKinnie wasn’t the only one to leave a winner. Mike Bray, a 20-year-old resident from Mohamut, was the People’s Choice winner and the only male out of all six finalists. Bray received a yearlong free pass to the Canopy Club for having the most clapping and cheering from the audience.

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There was only supposed to be five finalists, but due to a tie, the six other finalists of the night were Jesi Normile, Katie Coffey, Melissa Milanak and Katie Blomquist.

The Live Karaoke Band backed up each of the participants throughout the entire competition, and for Blomquist, a sophomore in ACES, singing with the live band was one of her favorite parts of the competition.

“I love singing,” she said. “And I was trying to take a nap this afternoon, but I had to save all this energy for the stage.”

Blomquist has a great deal of music experience. She sang in her first musical when she was just 7-years-old and is also a member of the University acapella group, Ripchords. She sang Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” as her final song and the judges loved her bubbly personality and energetic performance.

While she said it’s a relief that the competition is finally over, Blomquist said she was glad to have the opportunity to sing solo in front of such a large crowd.

Normile, a 30-year-old Muncie resident, practically brought along her own crowd to each leg of the competition. On Tuesday night, Normile’s fans occupied almost the entire area in front of the stage.

“I had some friends tell me about the competition,” she said. “And they told me I had to come and represent.”

Normile has been singing since she was two and sang Journey’s “Any Way You Want It” for her final song of the night, a song she had never sang before.

Normile didn’t have to worry about her performance though, because she has plenty of experience singing in front of people.

“I’m in a band now,” she said. “We’re just trying to get the word out there.”

Rolling around on stage, singing “Like a Virgin,” Coffey, a 25-year-old Bartlett resident, said all her friends and co-workers came to see her belt out Madonna.

“I did the competition because I felt like I needed to prove something to myself,” she said. “I just wanted to make it to the finals and it feels great.”

The only Wildcard to make it to the final round was Milanak, a graduate student in clinical psychology. She said some of her friends told her to tryout last week as a Wildcard and she made it in.

“It has been a blast,” she said. “I’m so excited to be in the finals and being with a live band is so awesome.”

McKinnie also had great things to say about the Live Karaoke Band.

“The band is excellent,” she said. “I love singing with live music. And everybody here is just so great.”

McKinnie said she tried out for the national American Idol and made it to the second cuts, but then had to drop out since she was older than the age restriction.

McKinnie also is no stranger to singing. Starting at just 3-years-old, she has also lived overseas and has been on European vocal tours.

McKinnie, who sang Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive,” described her song choices as the type of songs she used to sing into the mirror with a hairbrush in her hand when she was younger.

After six weeks of preparation, McKinnie said she’s ready to move past U of Idol, on to her theatric performances at Parkland College.

“I’m glad it’s done with now,” she said. “But it was cool to sing and hear all the phenomenal vocalists.”

U of Idol is scheduled to return next year, but for now you can get your karaoke fix Thursday, March 30, at the Canopy Club with Live Karaoke Band’s two-year anniversary show.