Hello everyone. Today’s article is to capture the details of an event that was very special in my life. This special event was the journey towards winning the 106.1 WBLI Island Idol competition in 2007. I am very sad to report that I do not have all the recordings that there were as I lost many over the years. However, I wanted to backup and memorialize the ones that I DID still have. Without further ado, here is my post on the journey toward winning the Island Idol contest. This post is the whole story there is to tell about that competition. It began in 2005 when I entered the newly established “Island Idol” contest. This was a Long Island version of the hit TV show, American Idol. Each year, a mall in Long Island was selected to host the auditions for this contest and likewise each year hundreds of applicants would audition. 2005 was the first year I entered into this contest. The auditions at the time were held at the Sunrise Mall in Massepequa, Long Island, NY. Unfortunately, this year I was NOT selected out of the hundreds of applicants. Despite this failure, in 2006, the Long Island Idol auditions returned except this year I made it a little bit further. The 2006 auditions were held at the Broadway Mall in Hicksville, NY (my home town) As usual there were hundreds of applicants vying to be selected for the Top 10 singers. What was not “as usual” was that THIS year, unlike the prior year, I WAS selected as one of the top 10 contestants. The following recording is what I listened to live on the air on the day of April 24th, 2006 at 7:36 am.
This top ten contestants from the 2006 contest were announced live on the air on April 24th 2006 at 7:36 am. At the time I was 21 years old. I remember vividly waking up extra early and listening to the 106.1 WBLI broadcast live on my home stereo. I recorded this broadcast using my cassette recorder then later I transferred it to digital. As the broadcast commenced, I waited on bated breath until (as you will hear) my name was announced as a finalist this year. After I was announced, me and my family began a victorious celebration. The commentators were so polite as to say that my singing was “so good”. Here is that very same recording.
ISLAND IDOL NEWS ARTICLE
After I was selected as a finalist I immediately began broadcasting, telling everyone I knew to vote for me to further me in the competition. Pursuant to that end, I reached out to the local Long Island Newspaper, Newsday. Shortly after, this article was written about me and was featured in Long Island’s Newsday newspaper. The content, as I will read to you, was about my being chosen as the top 10 in this 2006 Island Idol competition. This was the year that I was a finalist but didn’t win. This article makes mention of all the prizes that were involved for the finalists which included spa time, recording deals and a spa package. Even though I didn’t win, I did receive a spa package, hair cut and coloring for making the top 5 that year. It seemed that with each successive year of the Island Idol competition the prizes got more and more watered down. When I won in 2007 there was no recording opportunities nor spa packages. It simply included opportunities to perform throughout Long Island and of course, the $5,000 reward (which I did recieve AND APPRECIATED!) So here is the text of this 2006 Newsday Article. The article is entitled “Long island idol”
ISLAND IDOL 2006 – MIKE INTERVIEW ON RADIO
This recording was taken live from the radio on May 17th 2006. It features me live on the air while I was in the top 3 of the Island Idol competition of 2006. At this point I was in third place and only had %14 of the votes. Since I was in the top 3 I was granted the opportunity to be interviewed live on the radio. This broadcast was the beginning of the love that the flamboyant disc jockey Randy would end up having for me. He eventually became my biggest fan and his aid for my victory would span both this year’s competition and the next. Randy would frequently, while on the air, do plugs and tell people to vote for me over the other contestants. When I auditioned both in 2006 and 2007 Randy would appear as a judge dressed in women’s attire. He even went as far as tp put me in his top 8 on myspace. Despite Randy’s support, this would by my last on air performance this particular year. Shortly after this recording, I was eliminated from the 2006 competition. Interesting side story, soon after the contest I went to the prom with my current girlfriend. While at the prom one guest recognized me and she turned out to be the relative of the 2006 winner. After a short conversation, she said “Well, anyway, we won!” , stuck her tongue out at me and defiantly walked away. ha ha When I was asked to perform live on the air on this particular day I decided to perform “O Danny boy” which I was currently singing in my Vocal Jazz Ensemble at C.W. Post. Being live on the radio was definitely a first for me and was a thrilling experience i will never forget. Here is the recording of that day.
2007 Island Idol Broadcasts
ISLAND IDOL WARMUPS – WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25TH, 2007
This is the first broadcast I have a file of which I labeled “warmups”. The top 5 finalists of 2007 are introduced and they are as follows, of course there is me, Lisa Esquenazi, Diana Ricciardi, Toni Ferenze and Jason Marquez. We were told to do warmups in another room and Randy was going to walk into the room and place a microphone in front of us to record us. Randy describes me as his favorite “6 foot” girl. His love of me continues from the previous year.
This is one of the first broadcasts from the 2007 Island Idol competition that I ended up winning. Here Randy continues his love affair for me and remarks how I am his favorite 6’ girl. The top 5 were Diana Ricciardi, Lisa Esquinazi, Tony Ferenzie, Me and Jason Markez. These 5 people (including myself) were asked to sing a different patriotic song to play on the air. We were each individually given a song on the spot and given 10 minutes to practice in a private booth. We were then walked into the studio to record our song prior to the broadcast which itself was live. Diana Ricciardi was given “Your a Grand Old Flag” Lisa Esquenazi was given “America the Beautiful” Jason Marquez was given “Over There” Toni Ferenze “I’m a Yankee doodle dandy”. I was given “My Country tis’ of Thee”. All together we given a group performance “The Star Spangled Banner”.
ROUND 1 – MONDAY, APRIL 30TH, 2007
This broadcast on Monday April 30th, 2007 around 7 am. The results were revealed on Monday. Jason Marquez was the first one eliminated in the competition. The person kicked off was given the opportunity to sing one last time live over the phone and on the air. Jason did not want to sing on the air when he was eliminated which is curious for me. They play a brief montage of them on the air then the call the person after this montage. Jason seemed tired when he was called in the morning. He ends up hanging on the WBLI producer.
ONE HIT WONDERS – WEDNESDAY MAY 2ND 2007
This broadcast on Monday April 30th, 2007 around 7 am. The results were revealed on Monday. Jason Marquez was the first one eliminated in the competition. The person kicked off was given the opportunity to sing one last time live over the phone and on the air. Jason did not want to sing on the air when he was eliminated which is curious for me. They play a brief montage of them on the air then the call the person after this montage. Jason seemed tired when he was called in the morning. He ends up hanging on the WBLI producer.
Christian Message – WEDNESDAY MAY 23RD, 2007
The following voicemail message recording is from my nephew who was only 5 at the time, calling to congratulate me on my victory. This voicemail message was left on Wednesday May 23rd, 2007.
ISLAND IDOL 2007 – Intro
The next year, the annual Island Idol auditions were held at the Broadway Mall in my hometown of Hicksville, NY. This year, I was honored to be selected as one of the
top 5 contestants out of hundreds of applicants. I worked so much harder this year to promote myself and in the end,
I was chosen as the winner. The day I won, my sister and I showed up at the 106.1 WBLI radio station along with my
competitor, Lisa Esquinazi. When I walked in the building, probably somewhere around 7 am, I was approached by a very
nervous and jittery Lisa Esquinazi. I felt calm and I tried to trust in the Lord whatever the outcome would be.
Lisa was very stressed about how calm I was, and remarked “Do you know you’ve already won? How are you so calm?”.
After a brief introduction to the island Idol contest journey thus far, I was selected as the winner and performed a coldplay song on the radio live. Next I was handed a giant $5,000 check and took photos with Randy (the over the top Disc Jokey at 106.1 WBLI) and my sister. Lisa, accompanied by her mother, stood there and wept bitterly over her loss. Don’t get me wrong, she was an excellent singer, especially when it came to mimicking her idol, Celine Dion. I was elated with the victory that was 3 years in the making. Each successive year, I promoted myself more, and practiced my songs harder and it was nice to have that hard work pay off. I mostly spent all of the money on recording equipment and began my love affair with the dream of becoming a recording artist/performer.
