Saturday night, under the brisk rain and overcast sky, people came together in the auditorium of Sedro-Woolley High School, where singers shined under the intense spotlight and belted their hearts out in front of a large audience of adoring friends, family, and Sedro-Woolley Alumni.
Nine talented students all faced off in a cut-throat, neck-and-neck, singing competition judged to become the next Woolley idol.
Each round played out with all contestants performing one song. After each round of songs was completed, the audience had five minutes to make the gut-wrenching decision of who would advance to the next round.
Each performer brought amazing things to the stage: Katie Kins with a dazzling costume change, Robbie Glovers with his bold stage presence, Manuela Vendramini brought the raw, unfiltered emotion, and Serenity Leaverton had a captivating and adventurous performance. Alora Ford stunned the audience with her range of notes, and Landon Steele followed suit with cool-cat charm. Alexia Ceja paid homage to her culture with a rendition of “enamorame, by Abel Zavala, and Kaleah Wetserguard sang with a nuanced sadness before Matthew O’brien picked the mood back up with an upbeat and fun final performance for our first round.
The annual tradition was inspired by the popular hit TV show “American Idol”, where talented young performers can express their unique and superb singing talents, and Woolley Idol had just that same amount of talent.
The first round eliminated five contestants with the least votes, sweeping half the competition. In the second round, our top four contestants face off singing their second choice of song. The audience could feel the fire radiating off of each performer as their confidence grew after having survived the first round. Then it was time to vote yet again.
This time the choice is even harder. Now, the audience members must vote on the two performers that they want to see advance to the final round. One more song, one more chance, one more opportunity to show off their first-place-worthy vocals.
However, in a surprise twist, after the top two had performed, it was revealed that the judges would be deciding the final vote and their winner.
The audience could only sit back and wait as the judges made the toughest decision of the night. After a long five minutes our host was to reveal our winner
between our top two performers ASB president, Senior Landon Steelel, and singing extraordinaire, Senior Alora Ford.
All night long the audience adored the performances held by these two talented individuals, From the Smooth and jazzy songs sung by Landon, or the operatic and ethereal feel sung by Alora. The competition was neck and neck; anyone could have taken the win and emotions were tense during the final round. From the very first round, Alora and Landon were fierce competitors, winning the hearts of the crowd early on into the first round.
And ultimately, the Winner, and the title of “Woolley Idol”, was awarded to our very own Landon Steele! His smooth singing voice, and crowd presence presented him with the overall win. With his combination of songs such as “Dock of the bay”, by Otis Redding, and “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder, Landon gathered the hearts of audience members and judges alike.
After the show, families and friends alike gather to congratulate all of the contestants on the fabulous songs and performances they had given, so much character, so much talent, and so much life was brought into the auditorium that night, but now the only question remains… Who will be the Next Woolley idol of 2026? Could it be you? A loved one? A close Acquaintance? You’ll have to tune into next year’s showing of Woolley Idol.
