It was never her idea to sign up, but judges crowned Andrea Ruiz winner of the fifth annual Olds Idol as she channelled her inner diva at the Texas Mickey bar on April 4.Ruiz, who is at Olds College from Mexico on an exchange program, entered after bar staff suggested she participate in the singing competition. She belted out two songs, Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You and Adele's One and Only.The 22-year-old has had music lessons since childhood and in addition to singing, plays the violin and piano.She chose songs that would showcase her abilities.“Because I think they were strong songs and they can show everything that my voice can do,” Ruiz said.As winner, she received a $500 cash prize along with a karaoke machine. But that wasn't on her mind as she stood on stage.“I was not here because of the money. I was here because I was having fun,” Ruiz said. “I love music. It's my passion. I was just singing for myself.”She was also singing for more than 35 people in attendance and a panel of 10 judges, whose scoresheets glowed under black lighting.There were 10 contestants, who went through two rounds of singing.Denton Wigemyr, another Olds College student, won second place and $200. He sang She's Everything by Brad Paisley and Something Like That by Tim McGraw.Brandon Cassidy, of Olds, came in third and won $100 after performing You and Me by Lifehouse and Save a Horse by Big and Rich.This was the fifth annual Olds Idol at the bar, with Eagle Entertainment, an Innisfail-based karaoke and DJ company doing the organizing.The event was MC'ed by Jim Swinsdon, the owner of Eagle Entertainment, who performed a song himself while dressed up as Elvis Presley during an intermission.Not everybody who came on stage was a serious performer, though.Olds Idol also featured a joke band called Broken Records, which was an ensemble of four Olds College students putting on some musical comedy between rounds.The foursome put on campy performances of Young MC's Bust a Move; ABC by the Jackson 5; Three Little Birds by Bob Marley, complete with fake afros and oversized mock paper marijuana joints, before donning wigs and spandex while toting inflatable prop guitars for Whitesnake's Here I Go Again.“They decided they were going to have a little bit of fun and do something stupid and that's what they did,” Swinsdon said of the group. “And they had a blast doing it.”[email protected]
