Submitted photo Pictured are the students participating in Big Sandy Idol. Front Row (left to right): Caitlyn Conley (Paintsville High School), Sydney Smith (Belfry High School), LaShell Swigger (Magoffin County), Angelya Griffith (Magoffin County); Second Row-Seated: Clarke Sexton (Johnson Central), Caitlyn Good (Pikeville), Lindsay Wallen (Wesley Christian), Haley Damron (Pike Central), Abby Epling (East Ridge), Tierra Fonner (Phelps), Eden Wyatt (Shelby Valley), Cassie Callaham (Paintsville), Maggie Wilkes (Wesley Christian), Nicole Pennington (Pike Central), Taylor Harr (Shelby Valley); Back Row: Eric Sparks (Sheldon Clark), Derek Hall (Betsy Layne), Danielle Newby (Belfry), Kelsie Kender (Phelps), Emily Ward (Johnson Central), Whitney Lewis (Betsy Layne), Summer Pugh (East Ridge), DeLaney Wireman (Johnson Central), Amy Rice (Prestonsburg), Halley Sullivan (East Ridge), Megan Forman (South Floyd), Austin Music (Allen Central), Dakota Bentley (South Floyd). Not Pictured: Rebecca Risner (Allen Central), Maria Musgrave (Pikeville), Aaron Blackburn (Prestonsburg), and Todd Mathews (Sheldon Clark).

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By CHAD ABSHIRE

Staff Writer

The stage is set at the Mountain Arts Center for the finale of the 2012 Big Sandy Idol competition.

The competition will take place over two nights, with the first night beginning Friday, March 9, at 7 p.m. - the semi-final round.

All students who finished second place at his or her school will compete for a spot to perform on Saturday night, vying for the various championship prizes.

The championship finals round will be held Saturday, March 10, at 7 p.m. and will determine the 2012 Big Sandy Idol champion winner.

During Saturday night’s competition, each of the first place winners from the 15 schools will compete, along with the one student chosen from the semi-final round.

“We are so excited for the competition,” Laura Ford Hall, Big Sandy Community and Technical College Music Director, said. “Each year, we find exciting new singers and we are always amazed by the talent in our area.

But that’s not all. There are also special performances planned, including the Big Sandy Singers, the 2011 Idol Wildcard Champion Marlana VanHoose, and the 2011 Idol Champion, Shaina Hunt Cercone.

Big Sandy Idol is a talent and scholarship competition that is held in 15 high schools across the five-county Big Sandy region (Pike, Floyd, Johnson, Martin, and Magoffin).

The competition, organized by the Music Department of BSCTC, gives talented high-school singers the chance to compete for a full-CD recording, a Full-Paid Vocal Scholarship to attend BSCTC, a spot with the Big Sandy Singers, and various other prizes, a press release from BSCTC stated.

Hall also said that everyone was invited and that the BSCTC Music Department hopes everyone will come out for the competition to support music education. Tickets are $5 for students and $7 for adults and are available at the Mountain Arts Center. Tickets will also be available at the door the night of the show.

Tickets to the Regional Big Sandy Idol Competition are on sale at the MAC by calling 1-888-MAC-ARTS (226-2787).

For more information on and another way to purchase tickets for Big Sandy Idol and other community-based music programs offered by BSCTC, visit www.bigsandysingers.com.