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Top 30 finalists named for Suburban Chicago’s Got Talent

It’s going to be a song-filled summer.

That’s because 29 of the Top 30 finalists announced Friday for Suburban Chicago’s Got Talent will be making music in an attempt to wow the judges and advance to the next round.

Bands, solo singers, instrumentalists and a single comic will battle it out in the second Suburban Chicago’s Got Talent, a summer-long competition presented by the Daily Herald, produced by the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre and sponsored by the Arlington Heights Chamber of Commerce.

The finalists were drawn from more than 75 acts that auditioned between June 6 and 8 at the Metropolis in Arlington Heights.

“A little bit smaller turnout than we had from last year, but the quality of performers was terrific,” said Charlie Beck, the Metropolis’ executive director and a judge for the competition. “We still do have a great diversity.”

That diversity will be on display when the Top 30 — broken into two groups of 15 — perform live shows at 7 p.m. June 23 and July 7. Tickets for both performances are on sale now.

The audiences will get to weigh in this year as well as a panel of judges before the group gets pared down to 15 and, finally, 10. Each round features a live performance show.

“It’s going to make for a really good show, and I tell you, there are some extremely talented people,” Beck said. “It’s going to be a very interesting competition to see who rolls up to the top this year.”

The ultimate winner gets an expenses-paid trip to audition for the NBC reality competition “America’s Got Talent.”

Once again, there will be a Fan Favorite online component to the competition for later rounds.

Both the winner and the Fan Favorite will be announced at Taste of Arlington Heights on Saturday, Aug. 10.

Here is the list of the top 30 finalists:

Ÿ Sheridan Archbold of Yorkville, singing

Ÿ Andre Bellos of Des Plaines, song and dance with backup support from Alivia Tedeschi and Arielle Atar, both of Des Plaines

Ÿ Kristin Brintnall of Wheaton, singing

Ÿ Chinese Takeout (Luke Young of Lombard), beat boxing

Ÿ Kimberly Church of Carpentersville, singing

Ÿ Ryan Cooper of Schaumburg, guitarist and singing

Ÿ Gabriela Francesca of Palatine, singing

Ÿ Alexandrea Guzman of West Chicago, singing

Ÿ Mary Hilbrink of Fox River Grove, singing

Ÿ Andrew Johnston of Bourbonnais, singing

Ÿ King Whisky (Joe Calderone of South Elgin and Mike Kelley of Hoffman Estates), band

Ÿ wEs LeE “K” (Wesley Kochan of Bartlett), classic fusion guitar and singing

Ÿ Mark Lyons of Palatine, singing and ukulele playing

Ÿ Riley Mangan of Arlington Heights, singing and playing piano

Ÿ MELZ Band (Gary Ehlebracht of Naperville, Julie Zuker of Schaumburg and Dan Lawler of Elk Grove Village), band

Ÿ Merseyside (Patrick Ryan of Wheeling, Quinn Fitzsimons of Arlington Heights, Joel Smith of Arlington Heights and Sean Ryan of Arlington Heights), band

Ÿ Alexis Nguyen of Pingree Grove, singing and guitar

Ÿ No Immunity (Previously “Chaotic Family Band”: Matt Kania, Meggie Kania, Andy Meyers and Molly McDermott, all of Arlington Heights), singing

Ÿ Sarah Norman of Carol Stream, singing

Ÿ Bret Patterson of Barrington, singing

Ÿ Divya Pillai of Oak Brook, singing

Ÿ San Sandberg of Geneva, singing

Ÿ Sean & Karen (Slavin of Woodstock), singing

Ÿ Dave Siemiaszko of Wheeling, one man band

Ÿ Solar Sound System (C.J. LaFleur and Stephen LaFleur of Winfield), band

Ÿ Tiffany Streng of Arlington Heights, comedy

Ÿ Tempest Rising featuring John Koziol of Lake Forest (Gene Bayer of Chicago, Suzi Tillman of Chicago, Victor Varjan of Chicago, Bryna Tillman of Chicago and Art Scheer of Niles), band

Ÿ Tiffany Turner of Chicago, singing

Ÿ Viper Fever (Tim Shemroske of Bartlett, Mark Glatt of Riverwoods and Dan Shemroske of Bartlett), band

Ÿ Joey White of Huntley, pianist

Sing? Dance? Do standup? Suburban Chicago's Got Talent is looking for you

Meet the judges

Acts jumping in for Suburban Chicago’s Got Talent

Get ready for Suburban Chicago’s Got Talent auditions

Auditions under way for Suburban Chicago’s Got Talent

Rosemont tapings to air Tuesday on ‘America’s Got Talent’

Images: Suburban Chicago’s Got Talent, Top 30

  Dave Siemiaszko of Wheeling listens to the judges’ critique after performing his original composition on day one of auditions for Suburban Chicago’s Got Talent. Siemiaszko was named a top 30 finalist in the competition. Bob Chwedyk/bchwedyk@dailyherald.com
  Alexis Nguyen of Pingree Grove sings her selection during day one of auditions for Suburban Chicago’s Got Talent. Bob Chwedyk/bchwedyk@dailyherald.com

Suburban Chicago’s Got Talent Top 30 shows

Location: Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights, (847) 577-2121 or <a href="http://metropolisarts.com">metropolisarts.com</a>.

Showtimes: Preliminary Round 1 (first 15 of the Top 30 acts) at 7 p.m. Sunday, June 23; Preliminary Round 2 (second 15 of the Top 30 acts) at 7 p.m. Sunday, July 7

Tickets: $10

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