Resident found singing contest biased, unfair

I am writing this article in regards to the Sing From The Heart contest recently held by The Peninsula Center Mall merchants. The procedures that were used were unethical and in very poor taste, from the judges that were asked to participate, clear down to the way the contestants were judged.

During the first weekend, the judges did not hear some of the contestants sing either of their two songs. These songs were being evaluated to see if the contestants would become one of the 10 finalists or if they would be eliminated from the competition. This first weekend could not have been fairly judged, if these judges did not hear all of the songs from all of the contestants.

There was a time limit to enter this contest. This time limit was not adhered to whatsoever. People were allowed to enter the contest even after the competition had begun. Also, in most contests, anyone affiliated with or working for the mall would have been prohibited from entering this competition. This was not the case for this contest!

The judging was to be based on the following categories: voice quality, selection of songs, versatility, uniqueness, projection, originality, stage presence, singing "movements," appearance, audience appeal and knowing the words to your songs. I must agree with the lady from Fairbanks in that there was one contestant that stood out among all of the others in all of these categories; but that contestant was not Justin Thompson. It was Lori Mason! One need only to view the videos that are available to plainly see this fact.

The "popular" vote that was counted was 20 percent of the final scoring figure. In such a small community as ours, everyone there was voting for their friend or family member and therefore this couldn't possibly have been unbiased. This was not American Idol where all of America votes. Every weekend I watched people vote that didn't even listen to all of the contestants sing their songs!

During part of the competition, all contestants had to answer randomly selected questions. These questions were supposed to be answered off the top of your head within one to two minutes. Several contestants took a lot longer to answer, and some were unable to answer the question at all; and I do believe the questions were part of the contestants final scores for the day.

I believe that Sue Gill and Karen Cowan should not embarrass themselves further by hosting another "contest" such as this one.

Jackie Mize

Soldotna