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Jen Knight wins Wheatley Idol - Leamington Post

Despite the pouring rain the 4^th annual Wheatley Idol Talent Competition was presented by the Wheatley District Optimist Club at Two Creeks Conservation area, on Aug. 5.
There was no entry fee for contestants or spectators, just an afternoon of fun and entertainment as part of the Wheatley Fish Festival. About 275 people turned out. “New this year was a sponsored website provided and web mastered by a local area business ‘J Imaging’. This year’s judges were Nicole Barron, singer/songwriter; Cordell Green, of CHYR radio and Mike Thibodeau, Leamington Post Editor. “We had some great competitors this year. It was exciting to see the amount of talent that comes from our area. We found it especially difficult to choose our winners because there were several worthy contestants. We look forward to seeing them at future competitions,” said Judge Nicole Barron. This year’s Wheatley Idol overall winner was Jen Knight, 22, of Kingsville. She received the grand prize of four hours of recording time at a professional studio and other fantastic prizes. “This gives the winner a great opportunity to record a real demo,” says Janzen.“We would love to hear back one day that we were able to help the overall winners realize his or her dream as an artist,” said Janzen. All the participants received a certificate and the thirteen winners in the four age categories received cash prizes, gift certificates, prizes, and award plaques. The sponsored winner’s prizes totalled around $1500. All four 1^st place winners also received an invitation from Nicole Barron, Leamington Idol organizer, to be a special guest performer on Aug.18 inside the Kinsmen tent at this year’s Leamington Tomato Festival. This is the second year Wheatley Idol has worked with the Leamington Idol committee. “It is a great opportunity for both parties as it gives the winners another chance to showcase their talents and it brings both communities together.” Master of Ceremonies was Dustyn Janzen, with help from Heidi Janzen and Kelsey Schmitt, Alyssa Schmitt. “We had an overwhelming response from sponsors and volunteers again this year for Wheatley Idol and appreciate the generosity and time committed of all those who helped make this event a success”, says Janzen of the $1,500 in door prizes. Next year’s competition will be held on the civic holiday weekend…Check out the website at www.jimaging.net/wheatleyidol.

London boy, 11, wins Wheatley Idol contest - London Free Press
R. J. Latter took first with his I'm From the Country rendition.
By VERA OVANIN, SUN MEDIA

You don't have to be on TV to be an idol -- sometimes all it takes is to get the crowds moving. And that’s exactly what 11-year-old R.J. Latter of London did when he won the Wheatley Idol competition. Latter took home first place in the 10- to 12-year-old age category in the Chatham-Kent community’s fourth annual talent show last Sunday. The song that did it for him was his rendition of I’m From the Country, by Texan country artist Tracy Byrd.“I was singing, ‘Come on you cowboys and you cowgirls and clap your hands,’ and everyone (in the audience) was clapping,” the young idol said. He won $50 in cash, a plaque and prizes sponsored by local businesses for his performance. The competition went ahead without a hitch, despite heavy rain. Nearly 300 people showed up at the event at the public pavilion. “I had a lot of stage presence, said R.J., whose grandfather was a crooner in Northern Ireland. “Going on (stage) I was nervous at first, but once I started singing I started doing a lot of dance moves and the other kids weren’t moving like that.”R.J. plans to head to Nashville, guitar in hand, when he turns 18. He hopes to follow in the footsteps of his idols, Patsy Cline and Toby Keith. R.J. also sang at this summer’s London Rib-Fest at Victoria Park. He also has appeared at charitable events.

FULL SLATE OF TALENTED PERFORMERS – Wheatley Journal

The Wheatley Idol Talent Competition featured the maximum number of 40 performers allowed to enter. Generous cash prizes and numerous gifts were presented to the 13 winners selected in various age groups. Victoria Pippo of Leamington is pictured above singing her way to a third place win in her division. The popularity of the event has grown since it began four years ago and unfortunately several late entries could not be accommodated.

Talent abounds at Idol competition -13 winners receive outstanding prizeDespite the pouring rain, the 4th annual Wheatley Idol Talent Competition, presented by the Wheatley District Optimist Club, went ahead without a hitch at Two Creeks Conservation Area on August 5. The event, which was to be held at the outdoor amphitheatre, was moved to the pavilion to provide shelter for everyone, keeping him or her dry and out of the rain. There was no entry fee for contestants or spectators. It was free to the public to come out and enjoy an afternoon of fun and entertainment as part of the Wheatley Fish Festival that wrapped up on Sunday. All they needed to bring was their lawn chairs and Idol cheers!

The Wheatley Idol contest had about 275 people watching the competitors and the 1st Wheatley Scouts did a terrific job providing food and drinks for sale all afternoon to the crowd. Registration was closed at the door due to overwhelming response of online pre-registration.

“New this year was a Sponsored website provided and web-mastered by a local area business ‘J Imaging’. The Wheatley Idol website, which provided information and online pre-registration, was key to reaching our maximum for this year’s registration. We also had great coverage from the media and other sources promoting the pre-registration,” said organizer Darla Janzen. “Once we reached our maximum of 40 contestants, the online registration was removed and notice was posted on the website that registration was full. We had a few disappointed people who wanted to register at the door.”

This year’s celebrity judges were Nicole Barron, recording artist, singer/songwriter; Cordell Green, 96.7 CHYR FM morning radio host; and Mike Thibodeau, Leamington Post newspaper editor.

“We had some great competitors this year. It was exciting to see the amount of talent that comes from our area. We found it especially difficult choosing our winners because there were several worthy contestants. We look forward to seeing them at future competitions,” said Judge Nicole Barron.

This year’s Wheatley Idol overall winner was Jen Knight, 22, of Kingsville. Jen received the grand prize of four hours of recording time at a professional studio and other fantastic prizes.

“This gives the winner a great opportunity to record a real demo!” says Janzen. We would love to hear back one day that we were able to help the overall winner realize his or her dream as a recording artist or singer/songwriter.”

All the participants received a participant’s award certificate. The thirteen winners in the four age categories received cash prizes, gift certificates and prizes, and award plaques. The sponsored winners’ prizes this year totaled around $1500. All four first-place winners also received an invitation from Nicole Barron, Leamington Idol organizer, to be a special guest performer at Leamington Idol on Saturday, August 18 inside the Kinsmen tent at this year’s Leamington Tomato Festival. This is the second year Wheatley Idol has worked with the Leamington Idol committee.

“It is a great opportunity for both parties as it gives the winners another chance to showcase their talents and it brings both communities together for a very special event. We have also extended invitations for the four first-place 2007 Tomato Idol winners and will look forward to having them perform at 2008 Wheatley Idol as our celebrity guest performers.”

Master of Ceremonies, CHYR radio host Dustyn Janzen had help by the junior masters of ceremonies with winner prizes, door prize draws and circulation of Wheatley Idol pamphlets. The official helpers were 4-year-old Heidi Janzen, 4-year-old Kelsey Schmitt and 6-year-old Alyssa Schmitt.

A total of 34 sponsored door prize packages were drawn during the judges’ deliberation of each age category. Door prizes were valued at around $ 1500.

“We had an overwhelming response from sponsors and volunteers again this year for Wheatley Idol and appreciate the generosity and time committed by all those who helped make this event a success”, says Darla. “If we did not have their support we would not have the success we have had, and we hope to continue to grow each year as we have been.”

The Wheatley District Optimist Club, presenter of the Wheatley Idol Talent Competition to the youth, thanks this year sponsors, partners and volunteers who helped make 2007 Wheatley Idol such a success.

WINNERS OF 2007 WHEATLEY IDOL

Ages 6 to 9 - 1st Hope Forman (age 9), Leamington; 2nd Summer Ellis (age 5), Essex; 3rd Elle Klassen (age 7), Wheatley. Ages 10 to 12 - 1st R.J. Latter (age 11), London; 2nd Lexy Wilson (age 12), Harrow; 3rd Victoria Pippo (age 12), Leamington. Ages 13 to 16 - 1st Jennifer Gould (age 14), Belle River; 2nd Sam Dick (age 15), Leamington; 3rd Alannah Bedell (age 15), Charing Cross. Ages 17 & Up - 1st Jen Knight (age 22), Kingsville; 2nd Paige Frankfurth (age 18), Kingsville; 3rd Breanne Hayes (age 21), Windsor. Overall Winner - Jen Knight (age 22), Kingsville.

CK Times - Courtesy of John Gardiner-Editor Wed., August 8th, 2007 http://www.cktimes.ca/whatsnews/

Wheatley Idol part of big Fish Fest weekend!
The Wheatley Idol competition, held Sunday at Two Creeks Conservation Area, is an extremely popular part of Fish Fest weekend in the Lake Erie community and this year, with 40 contestants, was no exception. The Wheatley Idol is coordinated by Darla Janzen, but is sponsored by the Wheatley Optimist Club. President Larry McDonald was checking things out early before heading over for the finale of the big Fishing Derby held over the special weekend. Larry said about 500 fishermen took part in this year's Derby. Over 300 sat down to the famous perch and roasted chicken dinner and there was something going on for every member of the family. cktimes' photographer john Gardiner dropped by the Idol competition and snapped these photos of some cute and talented kids.

site by www.jimaging.net