A time to shine

Talent competition shows have been all over TV since Kelly Clarkson won the opening season of “American Idol” more than a decade ago. Now Jay County will be getting in on the act at the local level.
Stars in the Park kicks off a five-week run at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Hudson Family Park amphitheatre with the first of four quarterfinals.
The talent competition, organized by Jay County Chamber of Commerce, grew out of a suggestion from Andrew Fennig during a meeting for the DreamHaven program. DreamHaven had a goal of making Jay County more attractive to entrepreneurs, and also focused on creating “gathering places.”
“From ticket sales and concessions we want to raise some money for the chamber,” said John Boggs, one of the organizers of Stars in the Park. “But mostly we want to see the amphitheatre and Hudson Family Park used.
“We just want people to come out and enjoy themselves and talk.”
“And even beyond that as well, the more people you bring into a community, the more they support our local businesses,” added chamber executive director Vicki Tague.
The competition will open with quarterfinal rounds on four consecutive Thursdays — July 18 and 25, and Aug. 1 and 8 — with the semifinals and finals scheduled for Aug. 16.
Twelve contestants will perform in each of the four quarterfinals, and a six-person panel of judges will evaluate them. They will rate each act based on originality, personality, creativity, quality of performance, organization and coordination, stage presence and overall performance. Those in attendance will also get three votes apiece, with the ability to buy more votes for $1 each.
The judge and fan votes will be tallied and then combined, and the top three competitors from each quarterfinal will advance to the semifinal round.
The field of 48 competitors was cut down from an original group of 60 entrants following auditions in June.
“It wasn’t quite as crazy as ‘American Idol’, but it was really kind of fun,” said Boggs.
More than half of the competitors, who range in age from 7 to 50, are from Jay County. There are also hopefuls from Adams, Wells, Delaware and Randolph Counties, and one from Whiteland, south of Indianapolis.
The field is made up mostly of singers, but there are also a few bands and dancers along with one harp player.
The judging panel includes Sonja Rees of Muncie Civic Theatre, Patti Stahl of Fort Recovery and Stars in the Park committee members Jan Rittenhouse, Dolphus Stephens, Jessica Cook and Karen Meiring. There will be a different master of ceremonies for each quarterfinal, with Thaddeus Holmes, aka Thaddeus Rex, slated to host the semifinals and finals.
The top three semifinal contestants will perform again in the finals with a grand prize of $1,250 on the line.
The first runner-up will receive a $500 prize, and the second runner-up, 18-and-older fan favorite and 17-and-younger fan favorite will each get $250.[[In-content Ad]]