Singers compete at Howard County contest

Posted: Saturday, August 15, 2009 12:00 am | Updated: 5:11 pm, Tue Sep 15, 2009.

Peter Adelsen Staff Writer | 0 comments

GREENTOWN - The saying goes 'the third time's the charm,' but to one singing contest finalist at the Howard County Fair on Saturday it was his second time.

Stan Carlisle competed in the first HOCOMUKO, or Howard County Music Kontest, last year and only got as far as the semifinals. This year he wowed the judges all the way to the finals and won.

"This was totally unexpected," Carlisle said. "Initially, I was coming out to the contest to redeem myself from last year. I'm still stunned."

This year's runner-up was Lance Brookshire.

Each of the ten finalists received prize money given by the Greentown Lions Club. The winner received $925, the runner-up received $192.50 and the other finalists received $92.50.

Z92.5 radio personality and judge Allan James was impressed at how the singers improved through the contest. This year's finals featured only two who sang at last year's event.

"We're seeing singers develop," James said. "This isn't American Idol, this is a community contest. We can coach other people and encourage them to keep singing. I'm just really proud to witness these people get better and better."

The singer who most surprised James in the contest was Tabatha Bates. Despite having a poor score in qualifying, he said, she worked her way to the finals. She sang Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This."

"I thought she picked the perfect song," he said. "She came from the bottom to get into the finals and jumped to the top five."

The other participants who made it to the finals were defending champion Angela Bass, Lance Brookshire, Brian Chandler, Libby Duncan, Aimee Romero, Amanda Simmons, Denny Walker and Sarah Woodruff.

Z92.5 and Howard Regional Health System sponsored the music contest.

http://kokomoperspective.com/news/article_6523c45c-ffb2-5ad1-8102-bfedeb9cda90.html