Santa Barbara’s Teen Stars Shine at The Granada on Feb. 8

2014 Teen Star Santa Barbara Finalists

2014 Teen Star Santa Barbara Finalists

Congratulations to the Teen Star Santa Barbara 2014 finalists:

Jason Paras — Dos Pueblos High School
Karlie Mack — San Marcos High School
Zoë Lynn Burritt — Cabrillo High School
Nathaniel Neumann — Dos Pueblos High School
Grant Bower — Santa Barbara High School
Mary-Grace Langhorne — Goleta Valley Junior High School
Brandi Rose Lentini — Santa Barbara High School
Luana Psaros — Dos Pueblos High School
Sulema Mejia — Pioneer Valley High School
Dylan Ortega — Santa Ynez High School

And the 2014 alternates:
Olivia Huffman — Solvang School
Sydney Shalhoob — La Colina Junior High School

They will perform in the final competition on Saturday, February 8 at The Granada at 7 p.m. (1214 State St.).

The way the finals work is that each of the final contestants performs a song of their choice in the first round. Voting by text message, the audience selects their top choices and the celebrity judges (Catherine Remak of KLITE 101.7, casting director Wendy Kurtzman and record producer Randy Spendlove) choose theirs; then votes are combined for a second round.

After the second round, text voting occurs again by the audience and the winner is determined!

Along with the prestigious title, contestants have the chance to follow in the footsteps of previous winners like 2013 champ Allie Nixon, who is currently working with her celebrity mentor JR Richards on an album to be released this spring. Here’s one of her songs, which has been featured on the CW network:

The winner’s prize package also includes a $1,000 scholarship, opportunity to record  in a world-class studio, radio and TV appearances, plus being the opening act performer at a number of local events.

Here’s a great video that gives an overview of the program.

For more information regarding Teen Star Santa Barbara, click here.

The Teen Star Santa Barbara program was established in 2010 to give our youth an outlet to showcase their talent in a healthy environment and provide long lasting benefits for our community and our students as well as enhance opportunities for their futures. Proceeds from this event are donated to performing arts programs in Santa Barbara County Schools.

To purchase tickets click here.

—Leslie Dinaberg

Originally published in Santa Barbara SEASONS on January 28, 2014.