Superstars rise from city campuses

Forget about ‘American Idol’ fever, there’s a better reason to bring excitement to Pittsburgh,… Forget about ‘American Idol’ fever, there’s a better reason to bring excitement to Pittsburgh, and that’s Campus Superstar.

On Sunday, Campus Superstar, a student singing competition, will be held in the Carnegie Music Hall at 7 p.m.’

The event was started in Georgia and brought to Pitt’s campus by the Hillel Jewish University Center. Apparently we do it bigger in Pittsburgh, because in just three short years, the competition has exploded into being the largest Campus Superstar in the country. It annually attracts more than 1,000 community members and raises about $250,000 to benefit the student organization.

This year’s $1 student ticket price goes toward a great cause. That dollar will be matched by a donor and put toward aiding hunger relief in Pittsburgh — meaning students can give themselves a pat on the back for going.

Since November, contestants in Campus Superstar have crooned their way through three rounds of competition, with finalists beating out more than 150 other talented singers. Now, with 10 students from Pitt, Point Park and Carnegie Mellon, they prepare themselves for the finals.

The final competition plays out a lot like ‘American Idol,’ except instead of audience voting spanning several weeks, the whole thing will be decided in a matter of hours. The contestants will perform a song of their choice, but it’s up to the audience to pick a winner.

Here at Pitt, three lovely songstresses have made it through every round and will now be competing for the big prize — a $5,000 scholarship. The women from Pitt who made it are Allie Routch, Leigh Anne Miguelez and Catherine Reich.

‘I’m very excited. I was very shocked. I honestly didn’t ever expect to get to semi-finals when I got picked,’ said Routch.

She has been belting out tunes since she was a little girl, singing in her church choir and with her family. Now, she sings for the Cornerstone campus ministry band.

She is up for singing just about anything.

While it’s an important part of her life, Allie, a communications major, isn’t sure that singing will be a career.

‘I would love to [sing as a career], but that’s hard,’ said Routch.

Another Pitt songbird is Leigh Anne Miguelez, who is classically trained and has been singing for longer than she can remember. She even sang in her church choir at the age of 3.

‘I’ve been singing since I could speak. My parents tell me that they couldn’t really get me to stop,’ she said.

She’s in two choirs here at Pitt and uses those pipes to sing indie and modern folk music, accompanying herself on the guitar in her spare time.

‘I really love singing anything. Right now, I guess I like to sing more soulful things,’ she said.

While singing is something she’d like to continue to be part of her life, it’s not in her career plans.

‘I thought that I did [want to make a career out of singing] for a long time, but I realized that I would much rather have it as a hobby. I didn’t want to resent it by making it my job,’ said Miguelez.

The final contestant in the Campus Superstar finals is Catherine Reich. You could say that singing is in her blood. Reich’s grandparents met through their involvement in the opera. That love of music was passed on to her, no doubt instilled through a diet of Gilbert and Sullivan growing up. As a kid, Catherine wasn’t afraid to really put on a show.

‘This is really ridiculous. I used to spray blue Windex on my stuffed animals when I was little and sing the blues with them,’ she said.

Her musical upbringing might contribute to why her favorite things to sing are show tunes.

‘I feel like [musical theater pieces] have a lot of emotion in them, and they have great climaxes. And every singer loves to belt,’ said Reich.

All 10 finalists — also including Monte Howell and Emily McVicker from Point Park and Lilli Passero, Trevor McQueen, Corey Cott, Amanda Jane Cooper and Roberta Burke from Carnegie Mellon — will be judged by local personalities Etta Cox, Lynn Cullen, Richard Rauh and Ken Rice. The four were last year’s judges and really make it into a Pittsburgh version of ‘American Idol.’

‘Everybody is just amazing,’ said Miguelez, ‘You will really enjoy it just because of how incredible it is.’