VCU Idol finds students battling each other for top honors

Twenty-three acts showcased their talents in rapping, singing, and dancing at the Student Networking Association sponsored VCU Idol in the Student Commons on Friday.

A runway penetrated the audience to nearly the middle of the room. On each side of the long, slender stage were about 10 rows of seats facing in toward the middle, while about 20 rows looked in from the back half of the room.

At the tip of the runway sat three judges: Reuban B. Rodriguez, Associate Vice Provost and Dean of Student Affairs, Joseph Lyons, Assistant Director of the University Career Center and Mia Adkins, who works with undergraduate admissions.

The trio bore such a striking physical resemblance to the American Idol judges that it was hard for one not to suspect that whoever chose them had come down with a bad case of the pop-culture fever.

The night began with the rap competition. As was the case with all three categories, rapping produced some impressive contestants and also some that seemed a bit unrehearsed.

The biggest issue of all the rap performances was the fact that few could understand the lyrics. The judges began blaming the contestants, who in turn began to blame the D.J., R.N.S., who blamed the sound technicians.

Some of the rappers felt the judges were being too harsh when commenting on the performances over the P.A. “[The judges] are trying to take it too serious,” student Matthew Cox said.

While some complained, other rappers took their chance while onstage to fire back or at least take the criticism in good fun. One rapper responded to Lyons’ criticism of his getting off beat by saying, “Yeah, well I’m white,” sending the crowd into a roar of laughter.

The crowd found the singing competition easier to follow and sing along with. Contestants attempted a wide range of familiar songs, including “The Star Spangled Banner,” Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On,” Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” and the Fugees’ version of “Killing Me Softly.”

There were two hip-hop dance acts, one of which was highlighted by a solo dancer revealing his well-maintained six-pack to a very appreciative crowd.

Along with the hip-hop acts was a more classically oriented act, which seemed to impress the judges more. “Now that’s dancing,” Lyons said afterward.

To choose the winners, the judges picked the top three contestants from each category. Those three contestants were then voted on by audience applause.

The first vote was for the winner of the dance portion. The winner was Stephen Williams, one of the hip-hop dancers whose support from the crowd was deafening and obviously deserving of the top prize.

Next came the rap vote, which was much closer, but in the end Kevin Blackwell took home the top prize.

The vote for best singer was too close to call after three attempts at the audience voting method. The responsibility of deciding the winner was handed to the judges who picked Jerrell Crockett after only a few seconds of deliberation.

All the winners received a trophy and bag of goodies that included everything from iPods to gift certificates.

“Things just get better,” event coordinator Richard Coleman said, “so if you liked it this time, you’ll love it next time.”