Singing For The Win At Hampton Idol

Eleven singers. Five judges. One champion. This is Hampton Idol.

On Saturday, April 6, hopefuls from all over Southampton Town will be taking to the Hampton Bays High School stage. Their shared goal: winning the seventh annual singing competition loosely based on the popular Fox television show “American Idol,” according to organizer Caprice Crippen, who is the recreation program planner for the Town of Southampton Youth Bureau.

“These are all my future stars,” she said during a telephone interview last week.

Despite their ages, some of the contestants—who were narrowed down from 18 during auditions in January—have already tasted the spotlight. Take 12-year-old Maddy Seitles, who, though no stranger to vocal competition, will appear at Hampton Idol for the first time. In February, the Westhampton Beach Middle School seventh grade student won her heat of the New York Knicks KIDZ BOP Sports Jamz Talent Search by belting out “If I Ain’t Got You” by Alicia Keys.

Wearing a blue Knicks T-shirt and with microphone in hand, the young girl sang center court at Madison Square Garden. In front of 20,000 people. Without one waver in her voice from nerves.

“Most people would rather sing in front of two people than a bigger crowd. It’s the reverse for me,” Maddy said last week during an interview at her home in East Moriches. “It was amazing, oh my gosh. That was the best 90 seconds of my life. I wish I could do it again.”

On Friday, March 30, she did do it again. And though she came in second during the finals, also held at Madison Square Garden, the young singer isn’t letting the loss get her down. She is more than ready for Hampton Idol, she said.

During the evening’s first round, each singer will perform a two-minute song of their choice, Ms. Crippen explained. Only half the students will move on to the final round to sing a second song before the judges declare a winner.

Returning to the competition this year is 11-year-old Ava Bianchi, a sixth grader at Hampton Bays Middle School. She didn’t make it past round one last year so this time she’s ditching the conventional ballad and tackling a powerhouse anthem—Tina Turner’s version of “Proud Mary”—complete with musician Charles Certain and members of his backup band.

“It’s just really upbeat and it just makes you want to dance,” Ava giggled last week during a telephone interview. “I know that sounds a little weird, but it just makes you want to dance! It’s just so much fun because I’ve never really sang with a live band before—only once—so it’s really exciting.”

Each student will have the option to submit a track, sing a cappella or, for the first time this year, perform alongside Mr. Certain and Certain Moves, a funk band founded by the Southampton-based musician.

Some students are electing to play their own instruments, including Riley Owens, 17. For his first round, he will be strumming on acoustic guitar while singing Coldplay’s “Us Against the World.”

“I love the melody. It’s so beautiful and sincere,” the Westhampton Beach High School senior wrote in an email last week. “I started singing in elementary school and I have always enjoyed it a lot. There’s just something fun and exciting about it. Someone also told me that girls like singers ...”

If Riley’s ploy works on the female members of Saturday night’s audience, he may have this year’s Viewer’s Choice Award in the bag. But he’ll be facing some stiff competition from the award’s 2011 winner, 14-year-old Christiaan Padavan, who cinched the honor by wooing the crowd with his moonwalk across the stage—Michael Jackson style.

When asked whether he has some tricks up his sleeve this year, the Hampton Bays eighth-grader slyly replied, “Probably, but I’m going for the big win.”

Many of the contenders who are vying for the top spot began singing at a very early age. Westhampton Beach High School freshman Gabriela Dastres, who is 14 years old, started singing at age 4. And Westhampton Beach High School sophomore Shannon Serrick, age 16, first sang at age 3 to her great-grandmother, Marie Conti, who is now 96.

“I used to sing to her every day. She was the one who told me to look into singing more,” Shannon said last week during a telephone interview. “She was the one who told me I could do this.”

Self-admitted “talker” Maddy Seitles was singing as soon as she was speaking conversationally—at 18 months, she said. By her first birthday, she had 50 words, her mother, Michele, recalled.

“She was very communicative,” Ms. Seitles said, sitting next to her daughter. “I stayed home with her and I think I was really lonely so I talked to her all the time. And I would sing to her while pushing her on the swings. One day, she said, ‘My turn, Mommy.’ And she just spit it all back out. My jaw dropped.”

Maddy smiled and said, “I just really like to sing. It’s fun for me. It’s just what I do. It’s what I like to do. It’s my thing.”

The seventh annual “Hampton Idol” will be hosted by the Town of Southampton Youth Bureau on Saturday, April 6, from 7:30 to 11 p.m. at the Hampton Bays High School. The adult judges will be Ed Panama Arguello, Bryan Downing and Russell Kratoville. The young adult judges will be Alexis Arocha, the 2012 Hampton Idol winner, and Sara Hartman, the 2012 Hampton Idol runner-up and Viewer’s Choice winner. Tickets are $10 plus a non-perishable food item. For more information, call 702-2425 or visit southamptontownny.gov/youthbureau.