A sold out singing competition, screaming fans and free T-shirts made for an exhilarating Friday night at UNCW. 

The second season of Dub Idol drew in people from all over and created a line that wrapped around Kenan Auditorium toward Randall Library.  Fans arrived hours in advance to wait in anticipation of the event.  Starting at 7 p.m., doors opened and students filled up all 1,000 seats.

The full night competition kept the audience on the edge of their seats until the very end when they were able to participate in the voting process and the winner was announced.

Junior Tyler Easter received first place, winning prizes that totaled $1,000.  He was followed by freshman Elizabeth Nista and freshman Jordan Sasser, both representing Tri-House.  Also recognized was sophomore Colby Lewis as unofficial fourth place winner because votes were so close.

“I honestly wasn’t sure what would happen,” first place winner Tyler Easter said.  “Everyone else in the competition was absolutely incredible.  I thought maybe I had a chance at third or fourth, so it was a huge shock.”

The evening began with a rendition of Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” by the women finalists.  This was followed by the male performance of “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” by The Temptations and ended with all 13 contestants singing “I’ll Be There” by The Jackson Five.

The audience can be described throughout the event in one word:  wild.

“The crowd was insane!  I felt like every move any of us made, 1,000 people went insane with applause and screaming,” Easter said. “It was a really supportive and fun crowd to perform for, and I hope I get to experience something like that again.”

Second place winner Elizabeth Nista added, “In all my years of performing, I’ve never seen an audience like that and it’s the reason I’ll remember Dub Idol forever.”

Hosts Tyler Millard and Alex Wadsworth also worked the crowd as they engaged them with jokes, recognized each class and introduced Homecoming Week.

A short biography was shown on an onstage screen before each performer sang and their song was followed by a question from the hosts and comments from the three judges.  Commercials made by sponsors, including ACE, UNCWeekends, RHA, SGA & Crossroads, and SBTV, were also shown throughout the night in order to get more students involved in campus events.

Clearly, however, Dub Idol had no problem drawing in viewers. 

“I don’t think I have ever performed in front of that many people at one time,” Easter said.  “It was the most amazing feeling in the world.”

Easter began singing solo in high school and has participated in many musical theatre and cabaret style events.  He recently sang in the film “The Marc Pease Experience,” which was filmed here in Wilmington.

“I’ve always wanted to be on the stage,” Easter said.  “And I think once I realized I could sing, there was no stopping me.”

The night closed with the 2007 Dub Idol winner, Caroline Brown, performing “At Last” by Etta James with the UNCW Orchestra. 

“I had a wonderful time with the whole thing,” Easter said.  “I made some really great friends throughout the past week or so, and had a really great time putting on the show for such an incredible crowd.”