Shippensburg University’s campus radio station, 88.7 WSYC, found new talent among students in its new singing competition, WYSC Idol.
This type of on-air competition is something that the station has never done before in its 60-year-old history.
Program director, SU senior Matt Trust, came up with the idea for the singing competition after he assisted with a live performance on a radio show. After thinking about it, Trust said he wanted to do something about the limited opportunities that vocalists have to share their talent.
“We have the resources,” Trust said. “We just need contestants to make this work.”
After receiving audio submissions, the competition kicked off on Oct. 31 with six contestants. Each week contestants sing a song of their choosing.
These live performances take place on Tuesdays from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. Voting opens in the WSYC application after the show and closes on Wednesdays at 5 p.m.
At 10 p.m. on Wednesdays, the judges Justin Goodhart, Jenna Wise and Matthew Klinedinst — who each represent a student media group on campus — critique the performances sung on Tuesday’s show. The results of the contestants moving forward to the next week are released on the app the following day.
The winner of the competition will receive a $200 Ticketmaster gift card and the title, “WSYC Idol.”
This Tuesday will be week 3 of the competition and within the first two weeks of the show, over 1,600 votes were cast. According to Trust this is a remarkable turnout considering there are only about 1,200 downloads of the WSYC app.
“The competition has been a great promotional tactic for the station,” Trust said.
The competition was publicized well enough that not just students are tuning in, but community members are too.
On this week’s Wednesday broadcast critiquing the singers, the owner of The Thought Lot will join the judges. The Thought Lot is a local platform that recognizes local talent and their venue is dedicated to providing local artists with a space to follow their creative aspirations.
Trust thinks that having a real-world artistic organization interested in the college’s radio station is a statement in itself.
“It shows that this competition has a positive effect on the local community,” Trust said.
The Slate welcomes thoughtful discussion on all of our stories, but please keep comments civil and on-topic. Read our full guidelines here.