The Black Cultural Awareness Association (BCAA) presented the fourth annual Winona Idol at 6 p.m. on Friday, April 18 in Somsen Auditorium.
In the past, Winona Idol featured a variety of talent acts, but this year, the BCAA decided to make the contest resemble “American Idol” more closely and usually features 10-12 performers.
Contestants for this year’s Winona Idol, made up of students from Winona State University and St. Mary’s University, competed in singing their choice of a cappella or accompanied songs. Each performer’s song was kept secret until the night of the contest.
The faculty judges this year were Dan Souers, Theresa Marchant-Shapiro, Nicole Williams and Joe Reed.
Winona State’s Jered Smiley, 22, won the competition this year singing “Let her Cry” by Hootie and the Blowfish and “Water Under the Bridge” by Red Hot Chili Peppers.
The first prize is $100 plus recording time. Other prizes include varied gift certificates.
Winona Idol began four years ago when the BCAA decided to originate a talent show to raise money. The hit TV show, “American Idol,” gave BCAA the foundation on which to base their event.
The BCAA is the only student club involved in the making of Winona Idol.
Auditions for this years show where held on April 11.
“Next year we hope for more involvement from other student clubs and the community,” said Cecilia Lettner, next year’s BCAA president.
Audiences usually reach 250-300 people, but that number is expected to rise due to increased advertising techniques such as Facebook, posters and word of mouth.
This year, the BCAA vice president, Jaimi Christensen, did an interview for HBC that was aired on their local television station.
The BCAA also offered Winona Idol T-shirts for the first time this year. They have the “American Idol” microphone printed on them and read “Who’s next? BCAA presents Winona Idol 2008.”
Changes are made to Winona Idol each year with the hope of making the contest a bigger success than the previous year. Lettner hopes to have a past contestant or winner of “American Idol” make a guest appearance at next year’s Winona Idol.
In order to raise money for Winona Idol and other activities, the BCAA fundraised, by holding raffles for prizes, accepted donations, and making special requests for their club through Winona State.
The BCAA also hosts events including Real Talk open forums, political forums, a back to school bash next year with Rock Solid and the organization assists with the Inclusion and Diversity office on campus. They also were participated in the Tunnel of Oppression event held on campus.
“People commonly think that in order to join BCAA you have to be black, which is not true. We want people of all races to join.” said Lettner.

Contact Jessica at
JLLarsen0487@winona.edu