Petra Greenidge, High School Idol 5 winner
SARASOTA – With her renditions of the songs “Summertime” and “Stand Up For Love,” Pine View School senior Petra Greenidge captured the title of High School Idol in the fifth annual competition televised by The Education Channel.
The final round of High School Idol 5 was held Dec. 15 at the Players Theatre in Sarasota. Pine View sophomore Kaitlyn Terpstra won second place, singing "Moving Too Fast" and "Hey Ya." Chelsea Bolyard, a senior at Venice High School, took third place with her interpretations of two country music numbers, "But I Do Love You" and "All I Want to Do."
The competition was sponsored by the Education Foundation of Sarasota County, which provided $400 and $200 scholarships, respectively, to the second- and third-place winners; and Omar Cooper, who funded a $2,000 scholarship to Greenidge as the first-place winner. The first prize also includes a year of professional mentoring with Players Theatre artistic director Jeffery Kin, who also served as a judge for High School Idol 5.
Gift cards and passes were provided to the contestants by a number of merchants, including New Balance Sarasota, Panera Bread, Yellow Strawberry Global Hair Salon and Bryn-Alan Photography.
Greenidge, Terpstra and Bolyard will be guests on “Talk of the Suncoast with Cliff Roles” from 3-4 p.m., Monday, Dec. 29 on 1220 AM Radio, WSRQ. Roles, a judge for High School Idol 5, will also welcome his fellow judges, Jeffery Kin and singer-actress Sharon Scott, to the program.
High School Idol is The Education Channel’s most popular series. More than 250 students from across Sarasota County have sought the High School Idol title in the past five years. Through several rounds of competition, the event culminates in a live production as the finalists sing to an audience.
The final competition airs Monday, Dec. 22 through Saturday, Jan. 18 on The Education Channel (Comcast 20, Verizon 33), a service of Sarasota County Schools. The complete schedule for the High School Idol 5 finals and other station programming is available at the station’s Web site at www.TheEdChannel.net.