Northern Star & Northern Stars United

   Here are our Northern Star and
   Northern Stars United winners
   for 2011.

                       Dashawn Russell                                                               Gabrielle & Christian Sirois
                      
          

The hugely successful regional singing competition that organizers in 2010 changed from Aroostook Idol to Northern Star to launch an international contest is again including a new feature as the call for contestants goes out for the 2011 season.  For the second time in the seven years since the project was introduced by the United Way of Aroostook, two winners will be named at the end of the Northern Star competition that gets underway in March.

Residents, age 12 and above, who live in the three counties in the Canadian province that borders Aroostook County – Madawaska, Victoria and Carleton – will be eligible to compete alongside solo singers from northern Maine.  But this year, organizers are adding a second category to the competition and inviting singing groups – duos, trios and quartets – from both sides of the international border to compete as well.

The additional competition will not change the number of regional Northern Star shows or the single finale production.  However, adjustments are being made to the show formats to accommodate group competitors. Organizers are targeting 16 as the number of singing acts – solo and group combined – for each of the three regional shows in Houlton, Presque Isle and Fort Kent.  Audiences at the consecutive weekly productions in March will determine top winners in each category – solo and group singers – from their region, who will then participate, along with the top contestants from the other two areas, in a finale production on March 25 at the Caribou Performing Arts Center to determine the Northern Star and Northern Stars United champions.

As in years past, audience vote will determine which singers move on from the regional shows to the finale.  A panel of judges will serve as commentators as they have in years past.  However, organizers are making changes to the judge’s panel as well.  Rather than have the same three judges appear at each regional venue, three local celebrity judges from that specific region will sit on each panel.  At the end of each production, the audience will determine, by applause, which one of the three judges at their regional venue will “move on” to serve as a judge at the finale.

Applications for interested participants considering competing in their local regional show are now available at all Aroostook County Key Bank branches or download the application here.

Admission to each regional production will be $10.  All proceeds from funds raised at the door will go directly to the United Way of Aroostook’s annual campaign.