The Blue Trip Records Idol Search is finally here and the celebrity judges have been announced. The festivities get underway tonight at 8 o'clock at the Rose Theatre.
The judges include local favorites Ingram Hill, producer/ engineer Ralph Sutton, vocalist Carolyn Griffey, 94.1 F.M. The Buzz radio hosts Dana Fox and Brad Carson, and Jason T. Clark, a member of the Board of Governors for the Memphis chapter of the Recording Academy.
Admission is free and everyone is invited, said Lucia Kaminsky, a senior music business major and president of The U of M's chapter of Music and Entertainment Industry Student Association (MEISA).
Sophomore Evanthia Martagas, a music business and recording technology major, said the event will be high-profile.
"It will be a really extravagant endeavor," said Martagas, who is in charge of publicity for the event. "It is a black-tie affair with a red carpet, dresses, tuxes and celebrity judges."
MEISA is sponsoring Idol Search.
"The top three winners from the competition will be put on the Blue Trip Records compilation CD that will be distributed around the city," said Joyclyn Henderson, the Idol Search coordinator and a senior music business major.
There will be 12 different groups performing tonight, Kaminsky said.
"I feel very confident in the performers," she said. "They have amazing talent, and the cool thing is that they're from our own school community."
The acts to be performed are Sha P, Blaze and Dubbz, Tiffany Williams, Griffin Jackson, BGA (A.K.A. St. Louis), Jamaal Scott, Mary Washington, CJ Tyler, Jennifer McCord, Meredith Banks and Kylin Rose.
"The dress code is black tie with sneakers optional," said Tonya Butler, a faculty advisor for MEISA and an assistant professor. "We're trying to set a different tone by giving people the opportunity to dress up if they want to and create a classy, upscale atmosphere with a twist."
Blue Trip Records is a student-run record label at The U of M that is apart of the music business program at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, Butler said.
"We are going to take over this town," said Butler about the program she helped shape. "There will not be one person involved in the music industry that will not The U of M."
