Winner of first Aggie Idol announced

By: Mandi West

Zander Gates was voted Monday night as the winner of $1,000 out of eight finalists in the first singing competition at Utah State University called Aggie Idol.

The Ballroom in the Taggart Student Center had every seat filled and even people sitting on the floor. That makes just about 800 people in attendance to the event.  Many were ready to see what talent would be competing.

“I had seen some commercials and thought that these singers were really good,” said Landon Owens, an attendee of the event. “It’s cool to see the talent that has come from my own school.”

The event had each singer select their own song to perform. Once they all sang, audience members had a chance to text in their votes. Judges took those results into consideration to select the final three. The final three would then have a chance to sing one more song and then the audience and judges would vote on who would win it all. The judges included past conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Craig Jessop, pop singer Jenny Jordan Frogley and bass singer for the acapella group “Eclipse” James Case.

Judges had commented throughout the night about how Gates executed his songs well with a smooth and good voice. Case even mentioned how Gates sounded just like singer Michael Buble. That was fitting because Gates sang Michael Buble’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” for his final song. There was one criticism brought up by Frogley about how he needed to work on his stage presence to connect with the audience more. Jessop however had nothing but praise for both performances.

“I was blown away,” Jessop said. “It seemed very polished. It’s as if he has performed in Las Vegas for several years.”

Another finalist was North Logan local Nathan Heaps. Throughout the competition the judges said how he had the best stage presence out of all the other performers.

“Your success Nate is that you engaged me as a performer,” Jessop said. “You were more personal than anyone else.”

The third contestant in the finals was Tyla Bearss. She is a college student who is expected to have a baby in mid-January. Judges said how she had a beautiful voice and great control.

“She just had so much texture and color in her voice,” Frogley said. “Tyla just had a real appealing voice.”

Each of the three finalists was awarded recording sessions at Kyle Wesley Music. But at the end of the night, Gates would leave with the recording sessions, a cash prize and a title as the first ever Aggie Idol.

“I was so worried because the people next to me did amazing,” Gates said. “I felt as if the crowd loved everyone so much it could have been anyone’s game.”

Dan Clark, the host of the show, said how he hopes many people will continue to come back and audition for future Aggie Idol events. Ryan Muir, one of the coordinators of the competition, said how he certainly hoped that Clark was right and that Aggie Idol becomes a lasting tradition.

“My team worked very hard and collaborated with many people to make this thing work,” Muir said. “My wish is that Aggie Idol will become a tradition here at USU that will continue to bring the community together for a good time and to recognize the great talent in our own town.”