By Tracy F. Harris
The setting resembled a middle school dance, but the singing quality at last Tuesday’s U of L Idol competition was anything but juvenile.
The disco ball in the Red Barn was spinning and the speakers were overly loud, but that didn’t stop students from filling the floor.
“We set up the tables in case there weren’t many people,” said Jenna Greenwell, a member of the Campus Crusade for Christ, which hosted the competition.
However, those tables filled up rapidly, and then the sides of the room … then the back. The Red Barn was packed. According to Greenwell, approximately 200 students came out for the event.
Although the competition was technically set up to be karaoke, most of the performers didn’t need the screen to know what words to sing. Eighteen students hit the Idol stage to belt out their favorite songs – from Vanessa Carlton to gospel to more Vanessa Carlton to Whitney Houston.
The event featured not only U of L talent, but free snacks, drinks and door prizes. Attendees could win Speedway gas cards, Chick-fil-A gift certificates, free Papa Johns pizzas and a number of other restaurant certificates. All the prizes were donated by the respective businesses.
The winner of U of L Idol, a Madonna character known only as Trisha, received $50 cash for her performance.
Second place went to junior Hollie Minogue, who sang “Hero.” Michael Brown received a runner-up nomination for his a cappella rendition of “Ordinary People.”
Greenwell said the group hosted a similar event two years ago as part of the Crusade outreach program.
“We do one or two outreach projects a semester, mainly to let people know who we are,” she said.
As part of the program, sophomore Daniel Pittman gave what he called a “testimony” of his Christian faith.
Pittman was born in South Korea and spent the first three years of his life in an orphanage. He spoke about his life and the hardships he had faced, and how God had helped him along the way.
At the end of the show, Kari Velasco, a Louisville Crusade staff member, made a presentation about the life of Jesus Christ.
The Campus Crusade for Christ is an interdenominational Christian organization. Every Tuesday night the group meets in the Life Sciences building, room 101 at 8:48 p.m.
Greenwell said each meeting draws around 50-100 students, and every meeting features a praise band and speaker.
