Three years ago, America was captivated by a reality television show that made dreams come true. Now three years later Owl Productions has launched their own competition similar to American Idol to make dreams come true.
On Nov. 9, Owl Productions hosted its first FAU Idol competition giving six lucky and qualified FAU students the chance to win a recording contract with Hoot Records and other prizes. Arash Ferusi, host and co-creator of FAU Idol started the night off with free food and funny anecdotes about the auditioning process and explained what it took to get the competition off the ground.
Owl Productions held auditions on both the Boca Raton and Jupiter campuses to find contestants for the show and all their hard work paid off. The six lucky contestants, Chloe Dolandis, Julian Vasquez, Cassie Cappernellie, Renee George, Britney Diane, and Levi Lewis performed covers of their favorite songs in hopes of being crowned the FAU Idol.
After the first round of eliminations the judges, Lisa Mansel of Teen Cabaret Boca Raton, Steve Minick of School Keeper Entertainment, and Jimmy Michelle of Hoot Records, narrowed the finalists down to Chloe Dolandis, Levi Lewis, and Julian Vasquez. Julian’s cover of Maroon 5’s She Will Be Loved had all the women in the crowd cooing and swaying from side to side. Levi’s cover of George Michaels’s Freedom was a pleasant and unexpected surprise, which Judge Jimmy Michelle referred to as “Levi live in concert.”
But the definite show stopper of the night was Chloe Dolandis who received a standing ovation after her rendition of Whitney Houston’s I Have Nothing. Chloe’s standing ovation translated into her winning the FAU Idol competition. The judges referred to her as a “great personality and a great voice,” judge Lisa Mansel said Dolandis’s singing gave her goosebumps. Along with winning a recording contract with Hoot Records, Dolandis will also be opening up for Pitbull when he performs live at FAU in Boca Raton.
When I sat down with Chloe after the competition she was elated and said she was, “overwhelmed but felt fantastic.” When asked what she planned to do to celebrate, she said, “I’m going to go eat cheesecake.”
Lisa Mansel said that she was, “thrilled to encourage those younger [than her] to pursue their dreams,” and if asked to come back for another year Mansel said she would be delighted to return. I asked Arash if there would be a FAU Idol 2 and he couldn’t confirm, but his fingers were crossed.
