Audience to vote on first 'Hoosier Idol' today

Tonight, 10 contestants will vie for the title of "Hoosier Idol." The unidentified contestants, who were chosen from the students who auditioned, will be performing onstage at 7:30 p.m. at the IU Auditorium in front of a group of their peers.\n"It has been really awesome, we had about 25 people tryout the first night and we expected about three times that the second night," said Claire Tramm, Marketing Director for the Union Board. \nIn all, 70 people auditioned.\nAuditions were held Tuesday and Wednesday. The judges for the auditions included eight to 10 Union Board advisers and music school students. The auditions were taped and reviewed in order to choose 10 contestants who would be competing tonight. \nThe show will feature a celebrity panel of judges. Among the celebrity panel of the judges will be Glenn Gass, an IU professor of music, and Rich Hardesty, a local musician. The judges will not be able to view the audition tapes of any of the contestants before the show to prevent prejudgment of the contestants. \n"I think that it is a good idea, I know that in 'Teter Idol,' the judges were the same and they had already seen the people who auditioned perform before," said Randall Bogard, a Residential Assistant in Teter. "They already had their ideas about who was good."\nThe twist to the IU version of the competition is that after auditions, none of the contestants know whether they have made it to the next round. None of those contestants will know whether they have advanced until the chosen contestants are called up on stage. \n"Everyone who tried out should come ready to perform," Tramm said.\nThe host of tonight's show will be Tiffany, an '80s pop star. Tiffany has hosted "Star Search," a national talent competition. She will not be singing, though. The judges will choose the three finalists, and at the end, Tramm says, the winner will be chosen by the audience. Winners will be determined based on whoever receives the most applause.\n"It all depends on whoever has the most people there," Tramm said.\nColleen David, a "Hoosier Idol" hopeful who auditioned on Tuesday, said she has had a lot of experience singing for the public in middle school and high school back in her hometown of Troy, Mich. However, she said this competition is a little different from the ones she has been in before and it makes her somewhat nervous about tonight's show. \n"I don't know whether to really prepare or not," David said. \nIf chosen, David will be performing "Together Again," originally performed by Janet Jackson. \nBogard's sister is also in the running for a spot among the 10 semifinalists. Tonight would be the first night that he would ever see her sing. \n"I think that if she uses all of her dance abilities as well as her singing abilities, she will be able to come out on top," Bogard said.\nThe 10 semifinalists will receive prize packs filled with items donated from the sponsors of the competition and the winner will receive a recording session and demo tapes to distribute. \nThe show is free but tickets are required. Tickets are available at the Activities Desk of the Indiana Memorial Union and at the IU Auditorium box office.