Junior wins Saratoga Idol

The Saratoga Idol judges laughed hysterically last Friday night as junior Lea Moustakas threw them a wink while delivering her “New York cabaret” version of Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space,” as judge and physics teacher Kirk Davis described it.

Moustakas took home first place at the annual singing competition, which was attended by roughly 100 people. The event was organized by the junior class officers and judged by Davis, choir teacher Andrew Ford and drama teacher Sarah Thermond.

Although there were three judges, the winner was decided through voting by the audience — judges mainly provided commentary to amuse the crowd.

“I thought [Moustakas’s] performance was fun and interactive,” junior Jason Kao said. “She kept a hold of the audience’s attention throughout and received a large positive reaction from [the audience].”

The first competitor to take the stage was sophomore Surya Murthy, who set the bar high with her performance of “Hopeless Wanderer” by Mumford and Sons. Junior Sarah Traina followed up with an emotional rendition of “Gravity” by Sara Bareilles, and freshman Simran Mallik wowed the crowd with her vocals in “Take Me to Church” by Hozier.

Subsequently, junior Will Liddle charmingly sang his version of “Just the Way You Are” by Bruno Mars. Junior Samantha Sherman then displayed her prowess as a vocalist and guitarist with “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran and freshman Deyshna Pai showed off her powerful vocals in the old-school “Who's Loving You” by Jackson 5.

Next up was Moustakas, capturing the crowd with her winning performance. The show concluded with senior Michael Guo’s heartfelt interpretation of “Down” by Jay Sean.

The competition was emceed by juniors Raymond McCarthy and Zach Grob-Lipkis, who entertained the audience between acts.

“[McCarthy and Grob-Lipkis] provided good commentary and praise throughout the show and helped relieve pressure off of the contestants,” junior Gautham Arunkumar said.

Aside from the impressive performances of the competitors, there were three intermission acts. The first was a special performance by the band of seniors Ankitha Sarvesh, Chris McMahon, Nellie Jalalian and Max Rossip.

Senior Nina Nelson, who won the competition as a freshman, followed up with the last two intermission performances. Using seniors Sanah Shah, Jalalian, principal Paul Robinson, McCarthy and Grob-Lipkis as her backup dancers, she performed “Hotline Bling” by Drake, which was filled with hilarious parodies of Drake’s dancing. Her final act was “The Hills” by The Weeknd, with Shah on the piano.

Last year, the junior class officers tried online voting, but experienced technical difficulties as the server could only hold a certain amount of votes, according to junior class representative Neythra Srinivasan. This year, however, the audience voted on paper ballots and everything worked out smoothly.

“It went very well,” Srinivasan said. “The emcees were hilarious; our comedy act in between was very entertaining and made people laugh, which was what we were going for. Additionally, our intermission acts were a great way to start and end the show.”