Veronique Green, who has been singing gospel music in her church choir since the age of 5, was named the newest Pali Idol at Palisades High School’s third annual singing contest on February 25. The contest is patterned after the popular Fox television show ‘American Idol.’ Beginning with 85 initial contestants through the course of several rounds, 11 finalists were chosen. The winner was chosen by a panel of judges as well as the Mercer Hall audience of 300. Veronique wowed the audience and the judges with her perfectly pitched rendition of ‘Fallin” by Alicia Keys. Then in the final round, with her low-key stage presence, she made what one of the judges called ‘a courageous choice’ by singing Whitney Houston’s ‘Greatest Love of All.’ The judges were also impressed with Green’s powerful voice. A sophomore, Veronique sings in the choir of St. Matthew’s Baptist Church in Los Angeles, where her late grandfather was the pastor and her father is currently pastor. ‘Gospel is truly in me, and I also love R&B,’ she told the Palisadian-Post. Wearing a pink striped shirt and jeans skirt, Veronique came back for a final bow, singing John Legend’s ‘Ordinary People.’ Her grandmother and two cousins were in the audience to support her. Veronique will also get to compete in L.A. Idol, which is now in the works, with the other winners from various high schools. ‘I couldn’t believe it,’ she said of being named the winner. She picked the songs she did to show her range, and ended up with the title and a $200 prize. She is shy about performing, something she is still working on, she said. ‘I was nervous, but it helped that they had the lights off, so I didn’t have to see the crowd.’ Veronique, who also loves basketball and cooking, is now confident enough from her win to try out for ‘American Idol’ next year. Veronique had some tough competition. Her fellow finalists were two second-time contestants, junior Charles Hinham, who received a standing ovation with his first round a cappella medley of ‘Georgia on my Mind,’ ‘God Bless the Child’ and ‘Summertime.’ ‘You’ve redefined personal expression,’ said judge Dr. John Curtis. His second-round performance was ‘Gift from a Virgo,’ by Beyonc’. Also making it to the finals was Kiera Wells in her second year of competition, who combined a cool stage presence with a sharp performance of Lauryn Hill’s ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You.’ In the second round she shifted gears with a soulful a capella performance of ‘California Dreamin” Eight other contestants made it to the finals: Ari Coco, Ralai Lee, Jasmine English, Denise Kotlarenko, Gavin Jones, Ernestine Collins and Jasmine Daghighian. The PaliHi Leadership Class and their leadership and history teacher Chris Lee organized the event, and Lee and last year’s winner Annie Tippe were the hosts, even performing ‘Proud Mary’ together. The judges were principal Dr. Gloria Martinez; Dr. John Curtis, a PaliHi parent who edits onlinecolumnist.com; and three members of the KIIS-FM team, DJ Drew, Gina Da Latina and DJ Mike Vasquez. Unlike the TV show, all the members of the judging panel had positive feedback for the singers. The judges’ opinions counted for 20 percent and the audience response was 80 percent. In the final round the audience alone chose the winner. Previous rounds had winnowed the candidates to the top 11. ‘It was polished,’ said Chris Lee. ‘There was a nice camaraderie among the contestants, the audience got into it. Everyone was really supportive of each other.’
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