Northern Star returns for sixth season

Contributed Photo
NORTHERN STARS ARE COMING — The 2011 Northern Star singing competition is looking for talented individuals to perform in this year’s event. Participants in last year’s competition include, from left, Renee Cavagnaro, Samantha Boutot, Annie Charles, Erin Buck, Pam Cyr and lying across the arms is Isabelle Pelletier, the 2010 champion.
Group category added to this year’s competition
    Northern Star, the successful international singing competition formerly known as Aroostook Idol, is seeking talented singers to compete in this year’s event.
    The first show is planned for Saturday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. (U.S. time) at the Houlton High School Auditorium for contestants from southern Aroostook County and Carleton County, New Brunswick.
    Additional productions will be held on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. (U.S. time) at the Presque Isle Middle School Auditorium for central Aroostook and Victoria County, New Brunswick residents, and on Friday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. (U.S. time) in the Fox Auditorium at the University of Maine at Fort Kent for St. John Valley and Madawaska County, New Brunswick contestants.
    A new wrinkle in this year’s show is that for the first time its six-year history, two winners will be named at the end of the Northern Star competition that gets underway in February.
    As was the case last year when 12-year-old singing sensation Isabelle Pelletier of St. Jacques, New Brunswick was named the 2010 Northern Star, residents, age 12 and above, who live in the three counties in the Canadian province that borders Aroostook County – Madawaska, Victoria and Carleton – will be eligible to compete alongside solo singers from northern Maine.
    This year, organizers are also adding a second category to the competition and inviting singing groups – duos, trios and quartets – from both sides of the international border to compete as well.
    “Every year, since we first launched Aroostook Idol in 2005, we have been asked by prospective participants if we would allow them to compete as part of a duo or small group,” said Claudia Stevens, United Way of Aroostook executive director. “Up until this year, we have had to decline the requests, as group acts haven’t fit with the competition format. We decided to change that in 2011 by adding a component to our regional shows and finale that allow group acts to compete head to head with other group singing acts, with the goal of naming both a Northern Star solo singer and top singing group.”
    Stevens, who has been working with a committee of volunteers to plan for the seventh season of the singing competition that has raised nearly $200,000 for the United Way of Aroostook through the years, said the top solo singer in the 2011 competition will be named the Northern Star, while the top singing group will be called “Northern Star United.” Stevens coined the latter title to reflect both the “united” nature of the voices and singers in the groups that will compete, and for the obvious connection with the name of the organization that originated and has successfully managed the singing contest for six years.
    The additional competition will not change the number of regional Northern Star shows or the single finale production. However, adjustments are being made to the show formats to accommodate group competitors. 
    Organizers are targeting 15 as the number of singing acts – solo and group combined – for each of the three regional shows in Houlton, Presque Isle and Fort Kent. Audiences at the consecutive weekly productions in February will determine top winners in each category – solo and group singers – from their region, who will then participate, along with the top contestants from the other two areas, in a finale production on Feb. 27 at the Caribou Performing Arts Center to determine the Northern Star and Northern Star United champions.
    As in years past, audience vote will determine which singers move on from the regional shows to the finale. A panel of judges will serve as commentators as they have in years past.  However, organizers are making changes to the judge’s panel as well. Rather than have the same three judges appear at each regional venue, three local celebrity judges from that specific region will sit on each panel. At the end of each production, the audience will determine, by applause, which one of the three judges at their regional venue will “move on” to serve as a judge at the finale.
    The official call for talent for the 2011 Northern Star is now out and vocalists on both sides of the border – solo and group acts – are encouraged to apply as soon as possible if they want to take part in one of the three regional shows coming in February. 
    “We are excited that we are once again inviting participants from New Brunswick and adding the new group element to this year’s competition.  We look forward to hearing many talented singers and groups in each of the regional shows,” said Stevens.  “Singers are encouraged to present selections from any genre, and in English, French, or any combination of languages.  They should be wonderful shows.”
    Applications for interested participants considering competing in their local regional show are now available on the United Way of Aroostook web site at www.unitedwayaroostook.org and at all Aroostook County Key Bank branches. 
    Admission to each regional production will be $10. All proceeds from funds raised at the door will go directly to the United Way of Aroostook’s annual campaign. For more information on the Northern Star competition, contact the United Way of Aroostook at 764-5197.