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Stars rise at Bradley Idol

Sophomore nursing major Grace Myers wins this year’s Bradley Idol on April 26. Photo by Tony Xu

A crowd of 190 Bradley students piled into the Renaissance Coliseum on April 26 for the second Bradley Idol competition, hosted by ACBU.

ACBU has been working on Bradley Idol for a few months, led by Special Event Coordinators sophomore marketing major Abby Peterson and sophomore chemistry major Audrey Stoewer.

“I think it was definitely a success,” said Peterson. “One of the things from last year that we wanted to change was to have a little bit more diversity in song choice, and I think we successfully achieved that.”

Students’ voting on Facebook and the judges’ scores selected the winners. The student vote counted for 60 percent and the judges scoring counted for 40 percent. As the votes were tallied up, last year’s Bradley Idol winner Kelly Hicks returned to sing a cover of Celine Dion’s ballad “Ashes.”

Sophomore nursing major Grace Myers won with her rendition of Andra Day’s “Rise Up.” In second place was junior English major Allison Plourde, who sang Radiohead’s “Creep.” Sophomore management and leadership major Emma Hoyhtya came in third and sang “Ain’t it Fun” by Paramore.

“I’m honestly shocked,” Myers said. “Everyone was so amazing that I was just happy to be here.”

Myers chose “Rise Up” because of her fondness for vocal runs and its hopeful message.

“It’s a positive, uplifting song, and it might sound kind of cheesy, but normally when I sing my goal is to make just one person smile … So as long as I did that, it’s worth it,” Myers said.

Comedian and songwriter Kevin Yee emceed Bradley Idol and opened the show with his song “You Can’t Get Pregnant Making Gay Love.”

The song set the tone for his raunchy style of comedy that included jokes about his Asian heritage, a love song to Starbucks and consistent teasing of the judges. When Yee asked what president Gary Roberts’ job was, he replied, “I collect tuition.”

One by one, the 10 participants performed on the spotlighted stage, singing and sometimes dancing, interspersed with jokes and commentary from Yee.

The range of song choices included a slow, somber version of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” sung by sophomore public relations major Emily Piotrowski. She also demonstrated her ability to touch her tongue to her elbow.

Junior television arts major Troi Roberson’s performed an a cappella original titled “Elijah.” Junior music and entertainment major Tia Baylor also sang an original song with her vibrant rap “I’m That Girl,” during which she periodically tossed rose petals.

Junior political science major Pierre Paul sang “No One,” due to his love for the singer Alicia Keys.

“I personally thought Troi should have won,” Paul said. “Her a cappella was just beautifully done.”

Sophomore computer engineering major Reede Norlie performed Panic! at the Disco’s “Death of a Bachelor.” Freshman vocal performance major Abigail Krug sang Taylor Swift’s “Dear John.” Junior music entertainment industry major Lander Braggs sang “I Just Haven’t Met You Yet” by Michael Bublé.

“Overall I think it was a really fun event,” Peterson said. “For the most part, everyone who attended had a really good time.”

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