‘Idol’ winner leaves audience ‘Breathless’
Tonight, Riverhead has a new Idol.
When 16-year-old Taylor Burgess stepped onto the stage to perform, those in attendance saw a calm teenager. When she opened her mouth for the first notes of “Breathless,” a Corinne Bailey Rae song she says she loves, they heard just how talented she is.
By the time she stepped off the stage, the audience was left mesmerized.
The Riverhead High School junior, who hopes to study vocal performance and dreams of one day being famous, was the winner of tonight’s Riverhead Idol competition at the Vail-Leavitt Music Hall.
After the performance, judge Dee Martin could only gush.
“That was effortless,” she said. “It was seamless. It was gorgeous.”
Ms. Burgess won a $250 cash prize, a $150 gift card to Tanger Outlet Center, $50 at The All-Star bowling alley and a trophy. Second place went to Ryan Mancini, an eighth grader from Riverhead Middle School, while third place was awarded to Megan Schlichting, a seventh grader.
When asked how she prepared for today’s competition, Ms. Burgess smiled.
“The shower,” she said with a laugh. “I sing in the shower.”
Read more about the Riverhead Idol competition in Thursday’s issue of the News-Review.
