The much-awaited first round of Terrace Idol, the singing competition which took place at the MTHS Theatre on January 17, gathered audiences from other high schools near the area.

There were three judges present at the event: Amanda Stewart, an MTHS class of 2011 alumni, Frank Blosser, a long time music instructor in Edmonds School District, and Emily Brotherton, where music has always been part of her life.

Each judge critiqued each contestant after they sang their song choice.

There were 20 contestants in all: 13 from MTHS, three from Edmonds-Woodway High School, three from Lynnwood High School, and only one from Shorecrest High School. Only ten contestants move on at the end of the night to round two.

A total of six people moved on to the next round for MTHS: junior Katy Bodnar, senior Lucas Pope, sophomore Harrison Mains, senior Elbethel Abebe, senior Alana Erkan, and junior Senaiet Zerom, splitting the group in half; two from LHS: junior Abby Martinez and freshman Auryana Ashoori; and one each for EWHS: freshman Caitlin Yanos and SCHS: sophomore Franchesca Sandico.

For the complete list of  contestants from round one, see Terrace Idol 2013 stars.

“I thought [the performances] were really good. You can tell that some students have more talent than others, but the latter half really excelled over the first half of the performances,” Kim Greenhaw, a parent from MTHS said.

Katy Bodnar played her guitar while singing “Carry on my Wayward Son” by Kansas with an enormous vocal power, and told that she can do different kinds of music. She was also noted as ‘engaging’ by the judges.

Lucas Pope played his guitar and sang the cover of “Wonderwall” by Oasis sang by Ed Sheeran. The judges told him that it was good to choose this version than the original.

Elbethel Abebe sang “Make You Feel My Love” by Bob Dylan and was compared to Adele. Judges said that she was poised and had a beautiful voice.

Alana Erkan sang “Lullaby of Birdland” by Ella Fitzgerald and was told that her style fit her song perfectly.
“[I chose this song] because I love Jazz. It’s my strength. I can really get into the music and the song is close to me because I really feel it when I sing it,” Erkan said. “It’s my senior year, and I’ve never done Terrace Idol before. I actually tried out last year but didn’t get in, so I was going to go for it this year and I thankfully made it, it’s my last chance.”

Senaiet Zerom sang “Gravity” by Sara Bareilles with live accompaniment of senior SunYoung Song playing the piano. Her performance was described as delicate, but purposeful, and was incredibly enjoyable to listen to.

Abby Martinez wore bright red to match her song “Girl on Fire” by Alicia Keys. Judges said that she has a nice vocal and a great stage presence.

Auryana Ashoori played her guitar while singing the cover of “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes, sang by Melanie Martinez. One of the judges said that she was even better than the original. They also noted that she should consider not doing the guitar the next time.

Franchesca Sandico sang “Jar of Hearts” by Christina Perri and the judges liked how she changed the song to fit her voice.

Caitlin Yanos sang a mash-up of “Hey Soul Sister” by Train and “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz while playing her ukelele.

Harrison Mains was the finale and sang “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen. Judges commented to Mains that he was fun and enjoyable to watch. “I was here last year and I won the acoustic portion of the Battle of the Bands, so a couple people told me I should try out for this year so I sort of went for it and I’m glad I did that,” Mains said.

The night’s Master of Ceremonies were junior Monika Young, and senior John Moore.

This singing competition is a fundraiser for the class of 2013.

“All the people in the show were really great. I like Caitlin Yanos’ and Harrison’s performance the best because Caitlin’s was really nice and I like the songs and Harrison’s was really outgoing and he was really into the song,” MTHS freshman Tiana Pennington-Obispo said.

Terrace Idol Round 2 will be next week on Thursday, Jan. 24; Final round on Wednesday, Jan. 30.