MORENCI — Three more singers have had their tickets punched for a chance area fame and a $2,000 first prize.
Judges selected Bella Campbell, Margarita Aguilera and Raymond Gomez to advance to the finals of 2022 Gila Valley Idol, during Thursday’s preliminary hosted by Freeport-McMoRan at the Morenci Club.
“It was, obviously, really nerve-wracking up there. But, then again, someone mentioned to me that nervousness and excitement are the same thing, so I was nervous, but I was also really excited,” Campbell said.
Campbell sang “Jolene” and Aguilera performed “Love in the Dark.” Both are 15 years old.
“I haven’t performed a solo or anything, but I do perform along with the rest of the kids in choir. It’s not as nerve-wracking as it was today,” Aguilera said.
Of the three finalists, Gomez has the most experience, both as a performer for 14 years and as a teacher of mariachi at Western New Mexico University. He went in a different direction for his preliminary performance, singing the Country hit, “Tennessee Whiskey.”
“It’s always fun; it’s always good to challenge yourself and do something like that,” Gomez said.
Selected to perform again at the call-back night, March 10 at the Graham County Chamber of Commerce, was Devanee Sanchez, who sang “Mama’s Song”; Kalen Fuller, who sang her own composition, “Change”; and Savannah Chamberlin, who sang “Easy on Me.”
Sara Skinner, who sang “Killing Me Softly,” was selected as an alternate. One alternate will be selected at each of the six preliminaries, and one of those six will move into the finals based on voting by the public on GilaValleyCentral.net.
Judges for the second preliminary were 2008 Gila Valley Idol winner Adam Crohn; 2016 winner Brianna Morris and 2018 winner Pete McCormick.
Performances can be viewed on GilaValleyCentral.net and the Kat Kountry Facebook page.
The next preliminary will take place Thursday, Feb. 24, at 6:30 p.m., at OneAZ Credit Union in Safford.
The finals will take place March 24 at the David M. Player Center for the Arts, and tickets can be purchased at Gila Idol 2022 Tickets in Safford, AZ, United States (ticketleap.com).
Sponsors of Gila Valley Idol include: Valley Telecom; OneAZ Credit Union; The Stadium Club; Freeport-McMoRan; Richard’s Music; The Double R Grill; Valley Furniture and Appliance; Tyson Richins-Edward Jones Investments; Swire Coca-Cola; Trophies ‘N Tees; and Double R Communications stations Kat Kountry 94.5 FM, Sunny 102.3 FM and KATO Am 1230.
