Peters sweeps March Idol talent competition

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Megan Crusher
  • 452 AMW Public Affairs
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, CALIF. --  The fourth annual March Idol talent show kicked into high gear at the Cultural Resource Center Saturday night as the festivities from the base picnic came to a close. This year's competitors--singers, musicians, a dancer, a band and a comedian--entertained a packed theater of enthusiastic audience members.

Special guest Butterscotch, a finalist from "America's Got Talent," helped judge the show and gave a performance of her own after the contestants were finished. Retired Senior Master Sgt. Ionne Barnes-Joshua and Master Sgt. Medhat Dawood joined Butterscotch as judges, and Tech. Sgt. Allen Puckett, 452nd Maintenance Operations Squadron, was the evening's host.

Singer Chris Peters, son of Master Sgt. Michael Fedrick, 452nd Maintenance Operation Squadron, wooed the audience with his sensuous version of Luther Vandross's "Superstar" earning him the evening's top honor and a $100 Army and Air Force Exchange Service gift certificate.

Senior Master Sgt. Robert Trautman, from 452nd Maintenance Squadron, won second place and a $50 AAFES gift certificate for his spot-on impressions of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Pee Wee Herman and Cliff Clavin, from the classic television series "Cheers." He also impressed the crowd with his beat-box impersonation of Butterscotch.

Tech. Sgt. Jennifer Yoon, 452nd Aerospace Medical Squadron, competing for the second year in a row, won third place and a $25 AAFES gift certificate for her Hawaiian dance to Nathan Aweau's "Koke'e."

"I'm really excited, I really wanted to be able to represent the clinic in a positive light," said Sergeant Yoon.

Butterscotch took to the stage as the ballots were being counted. She sang and played piano skillfully before ending her performance with some hard-hitting beat-boxing that pumped up the audience.

After all the winners were announced, Chris Peters sang one more time to close out the show. March Idol won't be Peters's last show this year; he will be performing at college campuses throughout California in the upcoming months.

"I'm really pursuing this, my management team has put a nice tour together for me and I have a lot of shows coming up," said Peters.

This year's show culminated in one of the most diverse groups of winners since March Idol began four years ago, said March Idol organizer Tech. Sgt. Renita Turner, 752nd Medical Squadron.

"I think opening the show to Department of Defense civilians and dependents allowed a wider selection of talent and we will continue this practice in the future," she said.

Note: More photos can be seen in the slideshow under the photos tab.