With a resounding thunder of applause, six high school students stepped onto the Door Community Auditorium stage before a sold-out house February 7th to compete in the 5th Door County Idol competition. Singing from the heart, the contestants performed songs from Broadway musicals, pop tunes, ballads, and original compositions.
Representing Gibraltar, Southern Door, and Sturgeon Bay High Schools, Ben Kerwin, Lily Larsen, Monica Lenius, Kirsten Logerquist, Liz Neuman, and Wesley Schwartz received rave reviews from judges Hervy Hodges, Jeanne Kuhns, and Larry Thoreson. Following the final ballot count, the winner was…senior Lily Larsen.
“It was surreal,” Larsen said. “Of course, I wanted to win, but by the end of the show it was about the evening itself which made it that much sweeter. And performing with all of the other students was so great. They were all just wonderful; I am glad I didn’t have to vote!"
Performing “Born to Fly,” Larsen hit just the right notes. A bit country, the Sara Evans song “was a completely random choice,” said the Sturgeon Bay High School senior. “I wanted an up-tempo song to balance my second song. And I wanted to have fun with it, make it my own.”
Larsen’s second selection was “Defying Gravity,” a show-stopper from the award-winning Broadway musical “Wicked". “I had envisioned myself singing it,” Larsen explained. “It’s so powerful, and it connects with the audience. I wanted to go out with a big-banger."
“I especially want to thank Cynthia Stiehl for donating the prize award. It will help with my college expenses next year,” Larsen related. “I actually performed with Cynthia when I was in 6th grade. I had the part of Brigitta in the Door County Coalition production of ‘The Sound of Music.’ Cynthia was the Mother Superior and she was absolutely wonderful. I would go up to the balcony to listen to her sing ‘Climb Every Mountain.’ It just gave me chills.”
Larsen is hoping to attend St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. “I am a finalist for a music scholarship, so I hope that means I am accepted, but I won’t know for sure until next month,” she said. The 2009 Door County Idol runner-up was Monica Lenius who performed her own composition “In Here,” and “If I Ain’t Got You” written by singer Alicia Keys. Lenius is a junior at Southern Door High School.
