Suburban Chicago's Got Talent kicks off auditions

Auditions started Thursday for fourth annual Suburban Chicago's Got Talent at the Prairie Center for the Arts in Schaumburg. Now through Saturday, 70 registered contestants will audition in hopes of winning a Top-20 spot in the summerlong competition co-sponsored by the Daily Herald, the Prairie Center for the Arts, Onesti Entertainment, the Arlington Heights Chamber of Commerce and AMITA Health.

From the outset, several preliminary contestants were looking for ways to wow the judges in their audition allotment of about three minutes.

For instance, Mike Simon of Glen Ellyn worked in some comedy ad-libs before channeling Dean Martin to sing an a cappella mash up of the standards "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You" and "L-O-V-E."

"I sing with karaoke bands in town," said Simon, adding "I do hang out in bars, but only on days that end in 'Y,'"

Liz Mitchell, an 18-year-old who works at My Party Princess in Schaumburg, chose to accompany herself in a medley of three Taylor Swift songs on a pink ukulele rather than the expected guitar - which she also plays.

"The ukulele is cute, and I figured there would be a lot of people playing guitar," said Mitchell, who credits her boss for encouraging her to audition.

"This year we wanted to try out," said 17-year-old Haley Bloomquist of Elk Grove Village, a member of the five-girl band Serendipity that performed the Motown standard "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." Bloomquist attended a previous Suburban Chicago's Got Talent show and nudged her bandmates to audition this year because "it was something fun we could do."

"What's really the kick for us is to see the variety," said Schaumburg Cultural Commission Chairman John Flamini, who is returning for a second year as a SCGT judge. "And all of a sudden, somebody just shows up and wows you."

"That little spark of where you can see there's potential for contestants to grow, that's what I love," said Schaumburg Park District Cultural Arts Supervisor Beth Waller, also returning as a SCGT judge. "We want to coach them now, but we don't get to do that until we get to the shows."

The initial pool of contestants was limited to just 70 registered audition spots this year with no options for walk-ins.

The top prize is a "STARter Kit" promotional package to help further a budding artist's performing career, which includes performing as an opening act for a headliner at the Arcada Theatre in St. Charles.

There's also a Fan Favorite prize of a Funjet vacation for two, which is chosen by online voting in the final three rounds of competition.

The Top 20 show is 6:30 p.m. Sunday, July 5, at Schaumburg's Prairie Center for the Arts. For tickets, call (847) 895-3600. For information about later rounds, visit events.dailyherald.com/scgt.