July 11, 2011. Continuity, and finding the stars of the future are today recognised as crucially important in all spheres of life: In sport, in business, government and also in entertainment. The 20 singing finalists in the Gateway to Fame talent search, a competition that looks to unearth some genuine stars of the future, certainly looked the part when they took to the stage courtesy of sponsors Stuttafords and Scott & Wells.
The contestants performed one song each to backing tracks, and their skills and presentation were judged by a panel of experts consisting of top local performers Evan Roberts, Marion Loudon, Melanie Roberts and Barnyard performer Adri Britz.
In the picture: Gateway To Fame 2011 junior winners Kristina Bruge (first), Bernelee Frick (second) and Kiara Teunissen (third) pictured with Gateway Theatre Of Shopping’s General Manager Adrian Raw, and event co-ordinator Shelley McLean.
The junior (grades 1 to 6) winner was 10-year-old Kristina Burge from Chelsea Preparatory, who got a rousing response from the audience after performing Good Morning Baltimore from the hit musical Hairspray. In second place was Bernelee Frick (11) from Crawford La Lucia who sang Rolling In The Deep (Adele), followed by Crawford North Coast’s Kiara Teunissen (10) for her performance of Doo Bee Doo. Congratulations to this talented trio of artists.
The senior (grades 7 to 12) category saw a landslide win for Danville Park Girls’ High, with their pupils scoring a hat-trick in the finals. The winner was 14-year-old Jarene Moses who wowed the judges and audience with her rendition of Adele’s Someone Like You. The runners-up in this category were Jessica James who performed Before He Cheats and Phumelele Mzimela who sang Without You. Danville also produced last year’s senior winner, Amanda Kunene, who hosted the evening and did a guest performance along with the 2010 junior winner Andrew Sutton, from Virginia Preparatory.
Blown away
“The audience, judges and organisers were blown away by the enormous talent on show at Monday night’s Gateway To Fame finale. While the four judges scored them for their performance on the evening, a fifth of the final score was determined by the children’s participation and enthusiasm in the week of workshops held leading up to the event. Jarene and Kristina were both very worthy winners, and we are sure will earn their place back on The Barnyard stage in years to come,” said Debbie Davidson, owner of The Barnyard Theatre at Gateway.
There were big prizes up for grabs for the winners including a microphone (valued at R3 000 and R4 000) for each winner, as well as a keyboard (valued at R10 000) for the senior winner from Gateway Music. The two winners will also get the opportunity to showcase their immense talent again to a broader audience, when they make a cameo performance at The Barnyard Theatre in The Final Countdown backed by a live band on Wednesday, 5 October, with bookings open to the public. Jarene and Kristina will also get to perform two songs each in Gateway’s Palm Court on a Sunday still to be decided
Pre-show entertainment was provided by four invited performers and a team of dancers who also auditioned for their places and participated in the workshops.
The organisers reported an overwhelming number of entrants from schools throughout KwaZulu-Natal. The event was organised by seasoned local performer Shelley McLean, whose expertise led to an unparalleled competition of this nature for children. Shelley was backed up by Liesl Coppin, Shelley Haggard and Calli Thomson who assisted with the workshops.
Other sponsors at the final show included prizes from Gateway Theatre of Shopping tenants The Barnyard Theatre, Wavehouse, ScienCentre, Mr Funtubbles Fun Faire and Ster Kinekor.