DSC03375 225x300 Jersey Idol 2009 Garwood, NJ for St. Huberts Animal Welfare Center

The Crossroads

So on Saturday, October 3rd, 2009, I was an American Jersey Idol judge.

I was a judge for Jersey Idol, a charity event raising money for St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center. It was held at The Crossroads in Garwood, NJ. It was packed! There were no more seats left in the place. The parking lot was full, people needed to park on the street! I talked with some of the performers while we waiting for the sound equipment to be set up. I also took a *ton* of shots; 45 photos in all. See them in a slideshow at the bottom of the post.

DSC03362 300x225 Jersey Idol 2009 Garwood, NJ for St. Huberts Animal Welfare Center

This is part of the lot that was crammed with performers and attendees

The sound quality was great, à la “Joe” the sound guy:

DSC03379 225x300 Jersey Idol 2009 Garwood, NJ for St. Huberts Animal Welfare Center

Joe, the soundman without a last name

There were 17 finalists. Jersey Idol started at around 12pm and ended at around 3pm. Each performer had one song, one chance to impress the 5 of us. After performing, each judge gave a short critique and then rated the person (privately). At the end, the 5 judges deliberated, and we picked three winners. Congratulations to the winners:

  • Sebastian Rivera won the recording studio time
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Sebastian Rivera won the recording studio at Soundwaves Studio!

  • Elaine Magentiren won the national anthem prize
DSC03382 225x300 Jersey Idol 2009 Garwood, NJ for St. Huberts Animal Welfare Center

Elaine Magentiren won the National Anthem prize at Patriot's Field!

  • “Kickdown” won the promotion consultation prize
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"Kickdown" won the promotion consultation prize with LadyLake management

Here’s the list of the competitors, in order of performance:

  1. Pat Carmona
    • Played the National Anthem on guitar
  2. Joe Walsh
    • Played and sang “Thunder Rose”
  3. Erin O’Donnell
    • Sang “Love Story”
  4. Heather Young
    • Sang the National Anthem
  5. Lilly Walsh
    • Sang “Our Story”
  6. Carolyn Messina
    • Played and sang her original song, “The Fall” about 9/11
  7. Kristi Hunt
    • Sang “At Last”
  8. “Kickdown”
    • Played their original song “Burn”
    • Won the promotion consulting prize!
  9. David Kascak
    • Sang and played his original song, “Let’s Go Lovebird”
  10. Elaine Magentiren
    • Sang “Ave Maria”
    • Won the National Anthem prize!
  11. Megan Dunn
    • Played and sang her original song, “Crocodile”
    • Received an honorable mention!
  12. Joey Cavelli
    • Played and sang his original song, “Biggest Regret”
  13. Josh & Micah
    • Sang and played “Tears from Heaven”
  14. Daniel Ricany
    • Played an original piece on his electric guitar
  15. Christine Tack
    • Sang “Stay Beautiful”
  16. Sebastian Rivera
    • Played and sang his original song, “Balance” *(Thanks Paula!)
    • Won the recording studio time prize!
  17. “6 Ways to Saturday”
    • Played their original song, “Please Understand”

Congratulations to everybody that performed, and a double-congratulations to those that won! Jersey Idol raised nearly $1000 dollars for St. Hubert’s animal shelter on Saturday, October 4th, 2009!

We’re also now featured on Garwood365.blogspot.com, as well as the St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center homepage!

Related posts:

  1. Hangar84 from May 14th, 2009: Band List and Flickr set
  2. Tunes Against Turmoil 2 on May 10th, 2009 at Tony Canale Park in EHT, NJ: Overview