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Arts & Entertainment

Theatre Looking for the Delco Idol

Media Theatre Artistic Director, Jesse Cline, discusses the 5-week program and what makes the perfect "idol."

There is no Seacrest. There is no Steven Tyler to invent words or Jennifer Lopez who just loves everybody. This Idol is serious business. For the past half a decade Artistic Director of the Media Theatre, Jesse Cline, has been showcasing students from their theatre school and the rest of Delaware County in their Delco Idol competition.

Singers, ages 14-24 can audition on Monday, May 23 and Tuesday May 24 at 6 p.m.  at the Media Theatre. You can pre-register on the Media Theatre's website and there is a $25 registration fee. Currently they have about 38 contestants already registered, but encourage walk-in auditions. Media Theatre will also be running the Delco Idol Jr. competition for singers ages 7-13; auditions will be held on the same days but at 5 p.m. Contestants should bring in the song they want to perform along with the sheet music for piano accompaniment. There is no set style or genre of music; they see everything from country and pop to show tunes. Cline does suggest that artists leave their own instruments at home.

As said before, this idol is a little serious. While people love watching some of the goofy auditions for American Idol, that is not part of this show. The auditions are behind closed doors. Cline has picked a variety of people to judge the show from the auditions through the five weeks. The panels will consist of 3 to 4 members of the theatre community as well as civic leaders. Cline is the only judge that will appear each week. This combination creates a new show each time and challenges the singers because a new person is judging them each week. There is a brief critique session after each singer's performance, but instead of quirky comments Cline wants to be more constructive in order to help aspiring singers understand why a song may not have worked and what they can do to improve.

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A panel of judges will pick 30 contestants from the auditions to proceed to the five-week competition. Each week the singers will pick a new song to perform with only one rehearsal. Cline suggests contestants pick songs that are appropriate to their musical abilities and image. Similar to the show, Delco Idol is not just about vocal range, but the whole package.

"You have to know the music and be able to perform the music competently, that's number one, but also what is equally important is having an ability to connect to the audience, having a kind of charisma about you and actually it comes down to selling yourself to the audience," suggests Cline. He said he feels the strongest performers are honest and can confidently be themselves on stage.

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After each show the audience can vote online on the Media Theatre's website to help the person move on. The winner of the entire competition will win $1,000 sponsored by Iron Workers Bank.

There is also the Delco Dance Off, competition, which will hold auditions Sunday, May 22. The five-week showcase will begin Thursday, July 7 and will run similarly to the singing competition. Dancers, ages 10-21, can compete individually or with a crew of up to six people. Contestants must live within 55 miles of the Media Theatre. Their performances will be backed with recorded music.

Delco Idol begins Wednesday, July 6. Audience tickets are $15 or you can purchase a package of season tickets for $75. They usually have audiences of 400-500 people so reserve your seats soon.

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