St. Clair’s next Campus Idol

Students put their talents on display in hopes of being St. Clair College’s next Campus Idol.

On Jan. 29 St. Clair hosted its annual Campus Idol at Griffs Cavern. Every year colleges and universities in Ontario compete within their own student body organized by the Canadian Organization of Campus Activities and the Student Representative Council. Ten St. Clair students had the opportunity to compete against each other for a spot in the next round. After five rounds, journalism student Mamdouh Elchami finished off the competition with “Not Over You” by Gavin Degraw. He will be moving on to the next round in March in Waterloo, Ont.

Mariah Fridgen, a contestant in Campus Idol, has been singing since she was three years old. She is enrolled in the music theater performance program at St. Clair.

“I wasn’t even sure I was going to make it this far,” said Fridgen. “I think that I’m just really happy that I’m here I’m just going to do my best like I always do.”

Kate Isley, the vice president of the Student Representative Council and the master of ceremonies for the night, said students shouldn’t only focus on their academics.

“I think just to promote student talent in general,” said Isley. “We work so hard on our academics. But we need a balance. We need to showcase what other talents we have so it’s nice to get that diversity and to really get to know the students to enhance our overall community.”

The crowd was filled with students from different programs including a large group of students from the music theater performance program. Ly Wilex attended the event and said more students should have tried out.

“I feel like a lot of people have a lot of natural talent but unfortunately some of them don’t like coming out to showcase these talents. I think people are afraid of being made fun of.”

SRC’s other events include Battle of the Bands and Nooner Nooks. Both events also give students the opportunities to expose their talent to their peers. Isley hopes these events will give exposure to those students who have hidden talents.

“You get to see a variety of talents that you wouldn’t otherwise know existed within the school,” said Isley. “And Windsor in general, there’s so many talented musicians and artists and I just want to help that exposure in any way shape or form.”

The last round was between Victoria Scully, enrolled in the music theater performance program who sang Quiet by Jonathan Reid Galt.