Round 1: Where It Began
The class of 2019 hosted the district-wide annual singing competition known as Terrace Idol. The competition invites talented singers from all over the district. This year’s Terrace Idol round 1 showcased 19 talented high school singers: 18 from Mountlake Terrace and one from Shorecrest.
The first round of Terrace Idol started on Friday, February 22 at 7 p.m. in the MTHS theater. The judges, US history teacher Shawna Bogren, AP Statistics and geometry teacher Lee Henning, and class of 2019 class advisor and counselor Julianne Petterson. In the first round, 14 out of 19 contestants moved on.
The MTHS Improv Team opened the show with a few games. The team played popular improv games such as freeze tag, shrink and grow, and late to work. Using the audience’s suggestions for scenarios, the Improv Team opened the show on a comedic note.
The first performer of the night, Senior Lexi Fletcher sang “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen.
Following Fletcher’s performance, Junior Ashlee Putrick sang “Count on Me” by Bruno Mars. Junior Zee Ward sang “Stay” by Rihanna.
Junior Rhiannon Aguilar, who also performed in MTHS’s “Little Shop of Horrors” drama production, sang “Blue Lips” by Regina Spektor.
Playing her acoustic guitar, freshman Haley Moulton sang “Legends” by Kelsea Ballerini.
Up next, senior Michael Malysh performs an emotional song, “Autumn Leaves” by Nat King Cole. While Malysh sang his piece, he put on an emotional performance throughout the piece by using a picture frame and rose as props.
Senior Braden Smith, the only contestant from another school, sang and played the piano “Blessed” by Daniel Caesar. Smith gained a lot of support from his Shorecrest entourage.
Also supported by the audience, senior Vanesa Estrada sang “Make You Feel My Love” by Adele.
Sophomore Trinity Alber sang “Human” by Christina Perri. Junior Dani Bilyeu sang “Sorry” by Halsey.
A popular contestant with the audience, Senior Bruno Porras sang “Almost Like Being in Love” by Nat King Cole.
Next up, Junior Ella Seavers with her acoustic guitar, sang an original song, “Turn Out Alright”.
Another popular contestant of the night, junior Alberto Paredes, who also performed in “Little Shop of Horrors”, sang “Love” by Michael Buble. Paredes lit up the stage with dance moves, arising many laughs and support from the audience.
Freshman Anabelle Sumera-Decoret, another “Little Shop of Horrors” performer, sang “Good For You” by the Dear Evan Hansen Cast.
Another popular contestant of the night, senior Semira Beraki sang “Location” by Khalid and gained lots of support of the audience.
Up next, junior Daisy Ramirez sang “Mad World” by Gary Jules.
Following Ramirez, freshman Mat Marchard sang “God” by Paramore.
Sophomore Lilia Sanders sang and played “Hallelujah” on the Ukelele by Leonard Cohen.
Closing the night off, sophomore Sophie Stelmack, who also performed in “Little Shop of Horrors”, sang and performed “Stitches” on her acoustic guitar by Shawn Mendes.
Although there were technical difficulties during the show, it was a successful night.
The contestants who advanced to round two were MTHS students: Rhiannon Aguilar, Trinity Alber, Semira Beraki, Hailey Moulton, Alberto Paredes, Ashlee Putrick, Bruno Porras, Daisy Ramires, Lilia Sanders, Ella Seavers, Braden Smith, Sophie Stelmack, Anabelle Sumera-Decoret and Zee Ward.
Round 2: Heating Up
Round 2 of Terrace Idol was a full house. The audience was filled with anticipation, waiting for the performers.
Opening Round 2 of Terrace Idol, Smith sang “What Do You Mean” by Justin Bieber. Ramirez followed with the performance of “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol.
Putrick performed “The Breakup Song” by Francesca Battistelli. Aguilar sang “No One Else” by Natasha and the Great Comet of 1812.
Returning again with her guitar, Stelmack performed “Can’t Take My Eye Off of You” by Bob Goudlo and Bob Crewe.
A popular contestant from Round 1, Parades once again lit up the stage with more dance moves while performing “Save the Last Dance” by Michael Buble.
Another popular contestant from Round 1, Beraki sang an original song “Give It To Me Straight”.
I doubted myself and my performing abilities all rounds of Terrace Idol…but once you get up on stage, the feeling of everyone supporting you and enjoying your performance is really the best feeling in the world.
— Ella Seavers
Next up, Seavers came back with another original song and her acoustic guitar to sing “The Fight”.
“Terrace Idol has been an amazing experience for me. It has helped me to be less insecure and self-conscious,” she said.
Ward returned with the performance of “Grenade” by Bruno Mars. With another song by the same artist, Sumera-Decoret sang “Just The Way You Are”.
Alber sang “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion. Moulton returned with her acoustic guitar and performed “Trust In You” by Lauren Daigle.
Each of the performers gained massive support from the audience on each performance. Although there were 14 talented singers, only six made the judges’ cut for the final round of Terrace Idol.
Putrick, Aguilar, Stelmack, Paredes, Beraki and Seavers continued to the final round of Terrace Idol. The final round of Terrace Idol took place on Saturday, March 2. There were two winners: a judges’ choice and audience choice.
Round 3: Crowning the Winners
On Saturday, March 2, the final round of Terrace Idol consisted of six talented singers. The six singers were senior Semira Beraki, senior Sophie Stelmack, junior Rhiannon Aguilar, junior Ella Seavers, junior Alberto Paredes, and junior Ashlee Putrick. The final round of Terrace Idol crowned two talented singers as champions, an audience choice, and the judges choice.
The MTHS class of 2019 hosted Terrace Idol as a class fundraiser. The fundraiser was successful, with each night bringing a full house crowd that packed the theater.
The first round of Terrace Idol consisted of 19 talented singers, and 11 of those singers advanced to the second round.
when singing Michael Bublé and hearing his music it just makes me dance.
— Alberto Paredes
In the final round, each contestant performed two songs. All the performances differed in style and genre, which gave the show an exciting variety.
For Beraki’s first performance of the night, she sang “Teenage Fantasy” by Jorja Smith. During her second performance, she sang her own rendition of “Bury a Friend” by Billie Eilish.
In Stelmack’s first performance, she performed “Not A Thing”, an original song written by Stelmack, and in her second performance she sang “Broadway, Here I Come” by Joe Iconis.
For Aguilar’s first performance, she sang “Steps of the Palace” from the movie Into The Woods. In her second performance, she sang “In My Dreams” from the movie Anastasia. Aguilar ended as part of three in the judge’s choice category.
“Singing is hard and performing is even harder…there is a lot that goes into performing,” Aguilar advised. ”Make sure that your song means [something], and live in that moment.”
In Seaver’s first performance, she performed an original song “Fantasy” and in her second performance, she sang “Waving Through A Window” from the musical Dear Evan Hansen.
For Paredes’s first performance, he sang “I’ve Got The World On A String” by Michael Buble.
In Putrick’s first performance, she performed “Before He Cheats”, and in her second performance, she sang “Defying Gravity” from Wicked.
After all the performances were finished there was a ten-minute intermission, allowing the audience to go and vote for the audience’s choice winner.
After the intermission, the MTHS Improv team performed while the votes were being counted by judges. The MTHS Improv team played their popular improv games freeze tag and short, shorter and shortest, which arose laughter from the audience.
MCs of the night, seniors Erika Lampers and Andy Shaw, thanked the audience, judges Abigail Apana, Kyle “K-Money” Llarenas and Julie Petterson, the theater tech crew and everyone that made Terrace Idol possible before announcing the winners.
Before revealing the audience choice winner, Lampers announced the top three: Paredes, Seavers, and Putrick. Asking for a dramatic drumroll from the audience, the audience’s choice winner was revealed to be Paredes.
Paredes was a popular contestant from the very beginning with his performance of “LOVE” by Michael Buble in round one and “Save the Last Dance” in round two, also by Michael Buble. In each of his performances, he enlightened the audience with his impressive dance moves, often receiving an abundance of laughter and cheers.
Paredes stood out from the rest of performances mainly for his impressive dance moves. He sang many Jazz songs, which perfectly fit his style and energetic dancing.
“I’ve always liked to dance and I’ve always had dance moves…when singing Michael Buble and hearing his music it just makes me dance,” Paredes said..
It was Paredes’s first year performing in the Terrace Idol competition.
“I did Terrace Idol this year because I figured I don’t wanna do it senior year and then be like, ‘wow I should have done this last year,’” Paredes expressed.
Paredes wishes to express his appreciation for the wonderful performances that all of the other singers in Terrace Idol gave.
“All the other singers from round one did amazing in my opinion…everyone had such amazing voices and so much talent,” Parades said.”Everyone was a winner.”
For the winner of Terrace Idol 2019, Lampers also announced the top three from the judge’s choice category: Paredes, Aguilar and Seavers. After another dramatic drum roll, Seavers was announced as the winner.
“It feels surreal! If you would have told me a few months ago that I would be singing, let alone winning judge’s choice, I never would have believed you,” Seavers said.
Seavers was also another popular contestant throughout the competition. She also stood out from the rest of the singers because she played the guitar for most of her songs and sang original pieces that she had written.
“All of my songs are inspired by real feelings and experiences,” Seavers said. “‘The Fight’ and ‘Turn Out Alright’ were both written during my freshman year, when I had just gotten out of a really rough middle school experience and needed an outlet.”
Both Paredes and Seavers expressed that, if Terrace Idol is held again next year,, they’d definitely come back again to compete alongside other talented singers.
“If you want to try performing in front of an audience, do it! I doubted myself and my performing abilities all rounds of Terrace Idol…but once you get up on stage, the feeling of everyone supporting you and enjoying your performance is really the best feeling in the world,” Seavers advised. “So go for it!”
