Cantus Idol!!!

Hey Everybody,

Well it's been a while since The Big Event, but Cantus Idol was a huge success! For those who don't know what Cantus Idol is, Cantus has hosted a fundraising event, a "competitive karaoke" competition, entitled Cantus Idol for the past two years. This year the event was held at Hell's Kitchen, a fantastic restaurant in the middle of downtown Minneapolis. It's a competition a la "American Idol", so it wouldn't be complete without a panel of three judges with fantastic, and unique, personalities. This year our judges included John DeHaan, professor on the faculty of the Vocal Department at the University of Minnesota, Brian Newhouse, broadcast host for Minnesota Public Radio, and Laura Anderson, who is working as the Assistant Director of the University of Minnesota's opera program. Without this panel, the evening would have only been half as entertaining!

In Cantus Idol, each member of Cantus gets up and performs a song they chose. Before, during, or after each of the songs, people can "vote" for their favorite (or favorites) by placing donations in the jar with that singer's picture on it. That's why you see a man's head in the picture with Elvis...I mean...Adam, below. He must have liked that performance, and put some money in! After the first round, five singers are eliminated. After the second round, it's just the top two. Last year Tim won (and I keep hearing about his legendary choice of "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid), but this year Gary took home the trophy. You can see him above, singing out to the audience in his last number.

Speaking of pictures, I was able to capture some great ones with my new camera! I've been toying around with my new digital SLR for a couple months now, and thought Cantus Idol would be perfect practice. The best part was, I had no idea what I was getting into. From Dashon's white jacket, which became famous by the end of the night it was referred to so much, to Tim singing "A Whole New World" with Jocelyn, his wife...In German..., to Adam singing an Elvis tune while looking the part. The night was just way too much fun, and we all knew it. Below is a picture of Eric Hopkins with his husband Andrew and a bunch of friends. They had fun right up to the very end!


With over 150 people in attendance, we were able to raise TWICE the amount generated from last year's efforts. So thanks so much to everyone who attended. For those who didn't attend, there's always next year. And if you are seriously into popular music, come see our pops concerts coming up in the beginning of June.

Posting again soon,

Paul