In late 2009, Dylan Collins launched the seventh season of his popular online singing contest, inspired by American Idol.
Audition
We were required to submit an a capella song, ideally one verse and one chorus, as an audition piece. I used the start of One More Angel In Heaven from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat:
Despite the judges' lukewarm comments on my choice of song to use as an audition piece, it was enough to get me into the competition.
Round 1, part a: 80's songs
Sixty contestants passed the audition process and the judges divided us into teams, and assigned each team a decade. We could pick any song that first appeared in that decade. For 80's night, I sang Empty Chairs and Empty Tables from Les Miserables:
As it happens, a disproportionate number of good singers had been assigned to this round, and I didn't pass through; however, there were a number of problems with the judging process, owing to the fact that this was the first season there had ever been so many entries, and Dylan felt that I deserved another chance. When some contestants assigned to 60's night dropped out, Dylan took the opportunity to let a few of us try again.
Round 1, part b: 60's songs
For 60's night, I chose to sing Simon and Garfunkle's Sounds of Silence:
Round 2: Teeny Bopper Night
Thirty-three contestants passed the first round, and Dylan decided to give us a test. He deliberately selected a theme that would give us fits. Half were assigned to sing a MallXCore song, and half a Teeny Bopper song. I was assigned to the latter group, which was instructed to select a song performed by one of the following: Miley Cyrus, Ashley Tisdale, Mira Ovid, The Jonas Brothers, or Jesse McCartney. I wound up covering the latter's Beautiful Soul:
As far as I'm concerned, the best part of this was the judge's shocked reactions.
Round 3: Prom Night
Dylan declared the theme for the third round to be "Prom Night" and we were all to sing love songs. Twenty-four contestants remained; however, only twenty-one bothered to submit. My choice was Some Enchanted Evening, from South Pacific. This is not, by the way, the same recording that I had previously posted.
Round 4: Breakup Songs
The Prom, according to Dylan, was a disaster, and the eighteen survivors were tasked to sing "break-up" songs. I went back to South Pacific for another song, this one called This Nearly Was Mine:
Round 5: Topsy-Turvy Night
A number of us are basically Broadway-type singers, and we've been doing a lot of those and not so much pop, and Dylan was getting a bit tired of it. So they ranked the sixteen survivors of round 4, 1-16, distributed a list of eighteen songs, and told us to choose one. The catch is, the last-ranked person got to pick first, and no two people could do the same song. I had been ranked 7th in round 4, and wound up with Robbie Williams's Angels:
Round 6: Broadway Night
Two dropped out last week, and the judges cut two more, bringing us down to twelve. This time, we were instructed to do a Broadway song. After my problems with 80's night, people had suggested that I should have done Stars, so I took the opportunity to rectify that oversight this week. Again, although I had posted this one in the past, this was a new and improved performance:
Round 7: Sexy Latin Lover's Night
The theme this week was to cover a song by Enrique Eglesias, Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony, or Ten of us entered the round, but two dropped out just minutes before the deadline, leaving no time for replacements. Dylan grabbed some judges last minute and wasn't really happy with them. I wasn't either, because they slammed my performance of Marc Anthony's My Baby You:
Because of the two dropouts, Dylan decided not to cut anybody, so all eight of us went on to the next round.
Round 8: Michael Jackson Night
We now began three weeks of themes based on a single artist. This week, the eight of us had to do a Michael Jackson song. I chose You Are Not Alone:
Round 9: Backstreet Boys Night
Seven of us had to cover a Backstreet Boys song. I'd heard of them, but was totally unfamiliar with their music. With the help of a British friend, I chose to sing Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely, but the title was so long that we abbreviated it to SMTMOBL, which I pronounce, "smut-mobile." I should note that I thought I had managed to get the vibrato out my voice and dirtied up the pronounciation. Apparently not. By the way, in this episode, Dylan was portraying a character he calls "MC BFF":
Round 10: Bon Jovi Night
Six remained for the Bon Jovi round, yet one more artist I didn't know; fortunately, I know some awesome people who do, and one of them suggested that I sing Always. This time I did manage to change up my style, but the vibrato isn't leaving, and apparently I overdid the underenunciating in places:
Round 11: Double Trouble Night
Five of us remained for this one, and we were to do two songs. Dylan assigned us each a song that he thought would challenge us a bit, and we were free to choose anything else for our second song:
I was assigned Luck Be a Lady from Guys and Dolls, which is a bit more up-tempo than what I had been singing, and
for my second song, I chose to do Where is the Life That Late I Led? from Kiss Me Kate.
This was my best round so far. I was declared the winner, for the first time. The overall performances were very good and the judges had a lot of trouble with the eliminations. In light of the quality of the competition, Dylan declared that the four survivors of this round are now all in the finale, which will probably take place in a month. We have to do three songs each, so we'll probably need the time.