'Sing' finalists perform in Deer Park on Saturday

Deer Park Town Center is excited to announce the Sing! competition semifinalists, who will perform live on the next two Saturdays, Sept. 17 and 24, from noon-4 p.m. at Deer Park Town Center.

Sing! is a national vocal talent competition designed to shine the spotlight on choirs, choruses, gospel singers, glee clubs, vocal groups and soloists. Groups and solo performers uploaded audio performances to the Sing! website and voting took place June 1-July 15.

Through the online vote, the Deer Park community has selected the finalists. Each pool of semifinalists will be narrowed to three by a panel of local judges and audience text voting.

The Deer Park winners will then compete against 12 other regional winners from around the country. Video recordings of the top three live performances from each shopping center will be posted online for a popular vote to decide the 11 finalists, and one last online vote will decide the grand prize winner.

The winning vocal group will win the grand prize package: $20,000 for their favorite charity; $5,000 in Developers Diversified Realty MasterCard gift cards and a once-in-a-lifetime experience with Emmy-award-winning singer/songwriter Kevin Briody.

Soloists, meanwhile, are competing for a $5,000 donation to the charity of their choice; $2,500 in Developers Diversified Realty MasterCard gift cards and the opportunity to record a song Kevin Briody

www.deerparktowncenter.2011sing.com.

Sept. 17 performances

Noon: The 5 Stars of Lake Zurich. A group of students and friends ages 8-9 from the private school Trinity Oaks Christian Academy in Cary.

12:20 p.m. Taylor Welborn, of Lake Zurich.

12:40 p.m. PowerHouse, of Wauconda. The five voices of PowerHouse have been together almost two years.

1 p.m. Sarah, Bianca, Taylor: This trio is from Lake Zurich.

1:20 p.m. Heather Moran, of Wauconda. A multigenre vocalist who has performed regionally for 15 years; had a successful tour with her Rosemary Clooney tribute show.

1:40 p.m. Janey Age, of Chicago. Started as a folk vocalist and has a diverse background as a singer in rock bands and theater musicals.

2-2:40 p.m. Center for Ballroom Dance: Deer Park; and Kevin Briody: An Emmy-winning singer and songwriter who has shared the stage with artists ranging from Art Garfunkel to Aimee Mann. In 2008, he won his first Emmy for Best Original Song with “Little Starr,” which also earned him a BMI Film & Television Award. His 2009 song “We All Fall Down” earned him a second Emmy in the Best Original Song category that year.

2:40 p.m. Yaevin Lee, of Naperville. A stage veteran, she shares her passion for music through school performances and extracurricular activities.

3 p.m. Alexis Nguyen, of Pingree Grove. Kevin Briody inspired her to be a singer-songwriter.

3:20 p.m. Encore, of Buffalo Grove. This group of 25 has been performing more than 15 years.

3:40 p.m. Bare Voices, of Lake Zurich High School. These are a cappella voices selected from the best singers in the school.

Sept. 24 performances

Noon. Martin Hughes, Chicago. Has been studying voice since he was 11, has a bachelor of music education in choral and general music from DePauw University.

12:20 p.m. Do-Wop Crop, of Hoffman Estates.

12:40 p.m. Erin Fisher, of Palatine. At 17, she's a high school senior with plans to major in music.

1 p.m. Canticum Choir of Oak Lawn. Making music since 1999, the singers of the Canticum Novum Chamber Choir come from musical theater, community choirs and church choirs.

1:20 p.m. Jamie Ann Dowat: St. Charles. At 10, she has a passion for singing, but also plays the cello, the French horn and piano.

1:40 p.m. Midnight Blues, of Palatine High School. An auditioned vocal jazz ensemble out of the PHS Concert Choir, with performances at the White House and around the area.

Center for Ballroom Dance: Deer Park.

2:30 p.m. Donna Galloway, of Buffalo Grove. From a large family in West Texas, Donna knew her talent and passion was singing at the early age of 9.

3:20 p.m. Kate Diaz of Long Grove. Now 14, she starting singing and playing guitar in second grade, and has been songwriting ever since.