Contestants 2005-2006
Congratulations to Alexandria Maillot
Victoria Idol Winner 2006!
People packed the Victoria Conservatory of Music’s Alix Goolden Hall to hear the 10 Idol finalists perform their songs before a panel of five judges. Alexandria Maillot was the overall winner, with first runner-up
Jennie Tuttle, of Saanich, winning the prize for most applause.
Alexandria is a veteran of Island song contests, and was up against her 16-year-old sister Amanda in the Idol finals. Jennie, 19, is a Camosun College student who entered Victoria Idol on a dare. Second runner-up was 16-year-old Sydney Needham, a Belmont Secondary student.
“It was a fabulous evening all round,” says Jody Paterson, whose non-profit group, PEERS Victoria, staged Victoria Idol as a fundraiser. “With all this talent and packed houses at every concert since this started in October, PEERS is feeling pretty good about making this an annual event.” Eighty-five singers submitted entries for the competition. Forty were selected to go forward by the same judging panel that scored Saturday’s event - Victoria music producer Joby Baker, jazz musician Anne Schaefer, opera singer Barbara Livingston, R&B musician Adrian Chamberlain, and Trooper bassist Scott Brown.
Those 40 were whittled to 20 in the first series of elimination rounds in October, and then to 10 at two semi-finals in November. Those 10 played off Saturday. The young winner—who was 12 when the competition began—will now be heading into the recording studio with Baker to cut a song.
Proceeds from Victoria Idol will go to supporting PEERS Victoria’s late-night outreach work on the local prostitution stroll. “Public support for Victoria Idol has given us a great start in securing the money we need every year to run that program,” says Paterson.
Watch this site for a call for entries in August for Victoria Idol 2007!
Victoria Idol Finalists 2005-2006
Dustin Childs | Nathalie Karine |Sabrina Kufner | Amanda Maillot|
Alexandria Maillot| Sydney Needham | Carmen Nelson |
April Reidie | Kristin Ronse | Jennie Tuttle
Dustin Childs
Dustin is the sole male finalist in Victoria Idol. The majority of the 85 entries we received were from female singers – 64 in all, and only nine of the top 40 singers were men. Dustin, 27, grew up in Ta Ta Creek here in B.C., near the Rocky Mountains. His mom, a working musician, brought Dustin along to many of her venues, and by age five he was charming audiences alongside his mother with his idiosyncratic renditions of mainstream radio hits. By age 15, he was writing his own songs and had learned to play the guitar. He’s done some touring with his best friend Cas McCrea in years past, and has performed on the popular Halifax morning show Breakfast TV.
Nathalie Karine
Nathalie was born in Cameroon, West Africa, and lived in six other countries in some very exotic locales before her family settled in Canada. The 22-year-old is multi-lingual, and her first language is French. She’s been astounding her family with her voice since she was five and starting to perform jazz selections from her father’s music collection just from hearing him play them so often. As you can imagine, she was in formal voice training shortly after. Beginning with church choir and school productions, Nathalie went on to graduate from London’s Trinity College of Music, and has recently studied at the Victoria Conservatory of Music as well. As those who saw her electric version of Hey Big Spender at the semi-finals, she puts on a great show.
Sabrina Kufner
This 25-year-old mom of two has been singing all her life. She’s had some interesting times in those years, including a stint as a runaway when she made a living busking on the streets of Victoria and Vancouver. She credits the turmoil of her troubled youth with helping her create inspiring, emotionally charged music. Sabrina’s list of achievements to date includes winning the Shaw Star Discovery Contest three years ago, and the North Island Talent Hunt Showcase the following year. She has performed alongside a number of high-profile musicians, including John Gogo, Laura Love, Jeremy Fisher and Carolyn Mark. Sabrina has so far performed her own compositions in Idol preliminaries – stay tuned for her pick for the finals.
Amanda Maillot
Once upon a time, Amanda was going to be a professional figure skater. A devastating accident ended that dream – but at the same time, opened the door for a whole new one for the Parksville teenager – music. Amanda, 16, has racked up a list of musical accomplishments since then, including winning the Salmon Fest Talent Search and Qualicum Idol, and being selected as the only Canadian in the 13-and-over category to be chosen to perform at the International Nile Festival of Song for Children, in Cairo, Egypt. She has since been nominated for Youth Artist of the Year in the Island Music Awards. But it’s not all about music – Amanda also volunteers for breast cancer, food collection, the Nanaimo hospital and the BC Lions’ Easter Seal program. Amanda’s 12-year-old sister is also in the Idol semi-finals.
Alexandria Maillot
Twelve years old and they’re already calling Alexandria “the little lady with the big voice,” with comparisons to Leann Rimes and Aretha Franklin. This Parksville girl was the recent winner of Youth Artist of the Year at the Island Music Awards, and the awards list also includes Qualicum Idol, Nanaimo Talent Search, and the 2004 PNE Star Discovery talent search. And this year, she was on-stage with the big-time country stars at the Merritt Mountain Music Festival. She and her sister Amanda (see above), are the only sisters in Victoria Idol, and you’ll soon see why the judges couldn’t pick just one. Alex rocked the house at the semi-finals with her version of Chain of Fools.
Sydney Needham
Sydney is in Grade 11 at Belmont Secondary and is a member of the concert choir and chamber choir, as well as a vocalist with a community R&B band made up of students from Belmont and Dunsmuir Middle School. She’s a born-and-raised Victorian who knew from the first notes she sounded in Grade 7 that she wanted to be a singer. Voice lessons began not long after that. Sydney, 16, has since performed in productions of The Little Shop of Horrors and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow – that last one with Four Seasons Musical Theatre – and this fall, was chosen as one of 14 top vocal jazz students in the province to be part of the BC Music Educations Association conference through the vocal jazz honours choir.
Carmen Nelson
Carmen is a student at Edward Milne, and those who ply the Sooke highway may also have run into her working part-time at the Shell gas station at Saseenos. She loves all kinds of music, and has sung and acted in Edward Milne productions for the past four years. As you’ll hear at the finals, she’s got a big, strong voice. She’s a popular choice for comedic roles and lead singing, and was Mama Morton in the musical Chicago. She also brings a big cheering section to every Idol playoff, and won the prize for most applause at the Nov. 26 semi-final in Isabelle Reader Theatre, Langford.
April Reidie
At 24, April has lived in Victoria her whole life except for two years on Prince Edward Island. She plays 14 instruments and now adds her voice to that impressive list. She has been involved in musical theatre for five years and has competed in a number of singing contestants around the region in recent years. She works in the accounts payable department of Homewood Constructors. Watch for her at Western Speedway or Mission Raceway on the mainland, as she loves displaying her car almost as much as singing.
Kristin Ronse
Kristin is a Camosun College student with a passion for music, particularly singing and songwriting. She’s a graduate of Claremont and spent considerable time in the school’s drama and choir productions. The 21-year-old has also taken part in several community productions, including the Victoria Operatic Society’s Sound of Music, in the role of Brigitta Von Trapp, and in the society’s production of Anne of Green Gables, playing the role of Josie Pye. Kristin is also a veteran of the Totally Teen talent show, BCTV’s Show of Hearts, and Vancouver’s Dream Seeker.
Jennie Tuttle
Jennie is an Alberta girl born in Edmonton, but she’s been living in Victoria —her dad’s hometown—for the past 10 years. The 19-year-old is as accomplished in the sports world as she is in music, and has competed at the provincial level in hockey, soccer and baseball—and she landed an open invitation to play for a European national hockey team after a tour there last year. Jennie is now a second-year science student at the University of Victoria. She credits her musical talent to her piano-playing mother and her opera-singing grandfather, and years spent surrounded by all types of music. However, she’d never sung in public until entering Victoria Idol, and in fact entered the competition on a dare.
