By BOBBIE GREEN
The Progress
The Firecracker 1,000 Charity Lip Sync Contest was held in the Eureka resort ballroom on Saturday evening, June 29. Sponsored by Eureka Community Initiative this event featured all local talent who were well supported by packed house with standing room only.
The fun began with emcee Mike Foley, Radio Host for KXBN, St George, Utah. The comic host lit the fuse for the firecracker evening with his witty humor.
There were eight groups of contestants vying for money for their charity. The acts kept the very loud engaged audience laughing, cheering and whistling throughout the evening.
The first brave souls out were performing for the Mesquite Women’s History & Culture Center. Jean Watkins played the role of Mrs. Banks, from Mary Poppins returning from a suffrage rally. They were delightful and had great costumes. The pantaloons got the whistles!
Next came local podcasters, Steve Dudrow and Linda Harris lip synching “For A Moment.” Dudrow portrayed a beautiful robust lady with rosy cheeks and bird hat. Harris was the perfect picture of the starving male French artist. All the audience was laughing. They were performing for the ART Box podcast.
A little country, with June Carter and Johnny Cash singing “Jackson” was performed by Bailey Kesi and Dustin Simsich. They got our toes tapping and June did her normal thing upstaging Johnny. They were great, receiving very loud applause and cheers.
Next up was the sounds of “Viva Las Vegas.” The Mesquite Showgirls came out with flair and big headdresses. PJ Anderson performed the part of Elvis singing and dancing in front of a Vegas backdrop. The Vegas stye entertainment was very much appreciated by the sounds of the audience.
At one point the emcee pulled out a sock and said he wanted to lip sync too. His sock puppet sang “You Don’t Bring me Flowers Anymore.” Foley sang the male part himself. It was amazing that the sock puppet performance quieted the audience and grabbed their full attention.
Mesquite has it own talented Ruth Buzzi-style entertainer. Her name is Linda Villanueva. Villanueva performed to Ruth Buzzi’s Laugh-In version of “Lady Bird.” It was hilarious, despite the piece being very hard to lip sync. As the first act after intermission Villanueva got the firecracker audience lit again, performing for the Mesquite Toes.
Next up was “Beauty School Dropout” from Grease. Ken Juber was Frankie with an amusing Elvis bouffant jellyroll hairdo. Sharlene Anacker played the dropout. And Mesquite Toes dance group were the backup doo wops, all with hairdryers on their heads. More loud cheers from the audience.
Things quieted down just a bit with a more serious song “Shallow” from Haydn McMillan and Blake Bush performing for Mesquite Fire & Rescue. Portraying young lovers from “A Star is Born.” Their thoughtful presentation endeared the audience and was appreciated with applause.
The last act was from Dolly Parton (Audra Paterakis) & Kenny Rogers, (Bob Martinez) in costume performing “Islands in the Stream.” They made it a sing-a-long, by showing the words on a large screen and having the audience stand up. It worked well the audience was more than ready to participate. Their back-up artists were Sheri Cassidy, Starr Flores and Chandler Cominski.
It was a great evening and buckets of fun for all except maybe the Judges who had a tough decision to make. These included Mayor Al Litman, Phyllis Litman, Vince Coombs and Nancy Hewitt. The judges scored each act from 1-10 in each category: Lip Sync Abilities, Creativity & Choreography, Overall Enjoyment.
Each group entered in the contest received $250. For their charity, the winning act received $1,000 for their charity. All prize money came from the Eureka Community Initiative.
After the judges deliberated, the winner was announced as “Beauty School Dropout” with funds going to the Mesquite Toes.
Taking a close 2nd place (but no money) was “Islands in the Stream,” the Kenny & Dolly sing along.
The audience was asked to vote for their favorite on the way out. The People’s Choice results were not yet available before the Progress press deadline.
Gerri Chasko, Director of the Eureka Community initiative said, “In my book every performance was a winner. Thank you to all our performers we appreciate all you do in the community.”
