Karaoke and a side of BBQ

Finalists compete for spot in regional competition

Soon, Newberry will have six champions. Karaoke champions.

This Saturday, 36 finalists will compete at Newberry’s Backyard BBQ for the chance to advance to the regional competition in Tampa.

For the first time, Newberry has had the opportunity to participate in the national Talent Quest competition, thanks to Justin Nelson of AJ Karaoke and Events.

“I’ve been doing karaoke at the barbeque for five years now and this year I wanted to bring the competition to Alachua County,” Nelson said.

Talent Quest began in 2000 and the state is represented by Talent Quest Florida and the newer Talent Quest Sunshine State, which Newberry has entered. The two are the largest regional divisions in the nation.

“The Talent Quest Florida competition got to be so large that we had to turn venues away, and that’s not good for business so we created Talent Quest Sunshine State,” said Phil Garris, co-owner of Talent Quest Sunshine State.

The top competitors from each of the 14 venues in the Sunshine State division will compete at the Doubletree Hotel in Tampa, Fla., on April 7-10 for the chance to make it to the national competition in Laughlin, Nevada, on Sept. 19-26, Garris said.

The winner of each category will win airfare, a hotel stay and a paid entrance fee for the national competition. Garris estimated the national Talent Quest winner will win about $3,000, but he said that is not why people participate.

“It’s about fun,” Garris said. “For one week out of the year it doesn’t matter if you’re Democrat or Republican, black or white, gay or straight. Everyone is there because they love to sing.”

The local competition began in January. The winners from each of the Saturday karaoke nights (six nights in all) will make up the 36 participants in Saturday’s event. It usually runs from 8-10 p.m., Nelson said.

“This was our first year doing it here and we’ve had a great turnout,” Nelson said.

Rocky Voglio, owner of Newberry’s Backyard BBQ said they enjoy hosting the event.

“It’s very good,” Voglio said of the competition. “We’ve had a great response so far and there are some great singers out there.”

Nelson and Voglio agreed they could not predict who might advance to the regional level.

“No big crowd favorites, but like I said, there’ve been some great performances,” Voglio said.