NORWICH – The Chenango County Fair held its annual Talent Competition on Aug. 12. The competition had two divisions: 12 and under, and 13 and over. Within the two divisions there were three categories: Vocal, Instrumental, and Variety.
Competing in the 12 and under category there was a variety of singing, instrumental, and even a comedian for the first time. Amy Branham from Oxford won first place in the variety category, singing the song “Fairy Tail” by Sara Bareilles and accompanying herself on guitar. Jacob Shoemaker from Norwich won second place in the category with his comedic humor. Corey Huggins, also from Norwich, won first place in the instrumental category playing the electric guitar to the song “Welcome to the Jungle”. Finishing out the vocal category, first place went to nine year old Allison Mae Beckwith from McDonough, who performed an amazing rendition to “Part of Your World” from the Disney movie, The Little Mermaid. Also singing to the same number and winning second place was Lola Freidenstine from Bainbridge. Jensyn Burton, from Norwich took third place singing Beyonce’s hit, “Halo”.
The 13 and over division also had many talented contestants competing in the vocal and variety category. Justin Bevan won first place in the variety category singing and accompanying himself on guitar to the song, “Polygraph Right Now”. First place in the vocal division and overall Best of Show honors went to Hailey Branham from Oxford for her theatrical and vocal rendition to the song “Vanilla Ice Cream”. Shannon Stark from Norwich and Tio Schluter from New Berlin shared second place honors. Shannon sang the song “Gun Powder & Lead” and Tio sang “I’ll Be”. Janetta Montuori took third place for her performance of “We’re Young & Beautiful” by Carrie Underwood.
The competition is a qualifier for the New York State Talent Showcase which is held throughout the New York State Fair in Syracuse. Participants who meet minimum scoring guidelines are eligible to participate in the competition at the NYS Fair. Many of the winners noted above are planning to participate in the state competition along with dancers Angela Beers (Mt. Upton), Brooke Brown (South New Berlin), Kaitlyn Jackson (Norwich), & Jackie Murrer (Oxford). These young ladies won first place and qualified at the Otsego County Fair due to a lack of a dance floor in Norwich. Kaitlyn Jackson (winner of Best of Show) will also be singing an original song that she wrote, entitled “Crush” at the competition.
The Chenango County Fair would like to thank John Jackson for being the emcee for the event as well as judges: Becky Bates, Jamie Carrier, and Terri Jackson. If you have a talent and would like to qualify to participate at the NY State Fair next year, be sure to join us for our talent show during next year’s Chenango County Fair. Good luck to all of Chenango County’s contestants at the NY State Fair Talent Showcase.