During the halftime show at the Homecomings footballgame, 61,000 fans watched U.Va. Idol semi-finalists third-year Education student Catrina Garland and first-year College student Brandon Rogers perform. Former American Idol contestant and fifth-year Education student Travis Tucker performed as well, but the spotlight was on Rogers when he was presented the title of U.Va. Idol at the end of the game. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. members as well as several members of the marching band judged the winner based on the crowd's response to the finalists.
"Actually, I didn't think I was going to win," Rogers said.
Rogers, who has never had a formal singing lesson in his life, began his U.Va. Idol journey with the first audition.
"I decided to audition for U.Va. Idol out of curiosity," Rogers said. "I decided I'd see what was going to happen."
Garland, U.Va. Idol First Runner Up, actually did not plan on even auditioning at first.
"When I became a sister [of Lambda Theta Alpha Sorority, Inc.], they gave me the nickname Heaven's Voice," Garland said. "They made me audition."
In spite of her success in the competition, Garland remains modest.
"It's weird to hear people say, 'You're U.Va. Idol,'" Garland said. "But I'm just Catrina."
According to event coordinator Greg Jackson, 40 hopefuls competed at the first audition. A board of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity members and marching band members narrowed the 40 contestants down to 16; after a second audition, the judges chose eight semi-finalists to perform last Friday in Old Cabell Hall.
"When I found out I was a semi-finalist, I called my parents, and they were ecstatic," Garland said. "I called my boyfriend, and he was really happy. I called my sorority sisters, and they said, 'Oh, we knew it.'"
Second-year College student Lauren Jenkins said she was shocked when she found out she was a semi-finalist.
"Performing at semi-finals was like being at Disney World for the first time," Jenkins said.
At the semi-finals competition, each competitor sang a song of his or her choosing. A panel of judges, including Tucker, then narrowed the field down to four finalists. Rogers was the only first year who made it to semi-finals, but it didn't bother him.
"I wasn't intimidated," he said. "All of the other people who made it were really good singers, so I knew I had to get on my game and practice these songs."
Tucker said he drew on his experiences at American Idol to help him pick the finalists. He and the other judges considered vocal selection, performance, audience interaction and other aspects when making their final decisions.
"I pretty much just went with my instincts," Tucker said. "I took notes and didn't really read them. The people were good enough that you could remember them."
Rogers, who sang "Ordinary People" by John Legend at the semi-finalist competition, was confident in his performance.
"I was feeling it," he said.
The judges agreed, naming Rogers one of the two male finalists.
"Brandon took it home," Tucker said. "Everyone was blown away."
Garland said she was pleased with her own rendition of "Hero" by Mariah Carey.
"I didn't want to do too many runs because it wouldn't sound right," Garland said. "I just sang the song."
According to Tucker, the judges had a tougher time deciding amongst the girls, but they chose Garland and Jenkins as the two female finalists.
After the male finalists sang Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation" and the girls jammed to Beyonce's "Lose My Breath," the audience chose Garland and Rogers as the finalists "Apollo-style" -- through audience participation -- to sing at the Homecoming game.
"It was surreal to hear the audience clapping along with people I didn't know," Garland said. "When he announced the winner was me, I thought, 'Wow!'"
Rogers also was shocked, but reality took hold of him soon after the announcement.
"I had so many different feelings," he said. "There were so many people screaming that I just couldn't believe it. Then I was like I have to sing in front of all of these people at the game. But I was happy."
Last week was full of practices for Garland, Rogers and Tucker. Whenever the marching band rehearsed, all three were there, too. Despite all of the preparation, a few days before the big show, Garland was still in disbelief.
"I have to perform by myself in front of 60,000 people," she said. "I have yet to grasp that. I'm just going to imagine that everyone is a little dot."
Though both singers admitted to being nervous, anxious, excited and a range of other emotions on game day, their performances with the marching band drew cheers from the packed crowd.
"At the beginning of my first performance, I was real nervous, but as I got into it, I was having fun," Rogers said. "I wanted to do it again."
Garland said she was surprised that she wasn't nervous before her performance.
"Oh my goodness, it was definitely the biggest adrenaline rush I've ever felt in my life," she said. "I was completely surrounded by people. In the back of my mind, I was like, 'I'm the center of attention for 61,000 people.'"
Because Rogers is a first year at the University, he was amazed that he won the chance to sing in front of a packed Scott Stadium.
"I felt like it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance," he said.
According to Garland, U.Va. Idol was the best thing she has participated in at the University other than rushing her sorority.
"This is something I'll remember forever," she said. "I'll think about it the day I graduate and then 10 years afterward."
Looking back on all his hard work, Jackson said he views the competition as a success.
"U.Va. Idol was a great opportunity to bring different groups together," he said. "Different cultures can celebrate together through music."
Now, with one Idol win under his belt, Rogers is thinking about taking a year off after he finishes college to audition for the real American Idol.
Even though Rogers was named the new U.Va. Idol, Garland values her experience in the competition.
"Who else can say that they got to sing at Scott Stadium in front of everyone?" Garland said. "In my eyes, that's cool with me. Singing at the Homecoming game was winning."
Despite winning $200 and the opportunity to perform on the marching band's upcoming CD, Rogers said winning was not important to him either.
"Just being in the competition and being able to sing at halftime was enough," Rogers said. "Winning was just the icing on the cake."