MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The popular talent show hosted by students at Morgantown High School is ready to take place on Saturday.
The 17th Annual Mohigan Idol will take place on Saturday, February 22, at 7:00 p.m. at the Metropolitan Theatre in downtown Morgantown, where 20 students from elementary school all the way up to high school will get a chance to perform their renditions of popular songs. Morgantown High Junior Class Secretary Maddie Wissman encourages residents to stop by and support the students performing, with all proceeds going to support WVU Medicine Childrens’.
“Right now, we’re at $9,700 out of our $30,000 goal, and all of this money is going straight to WVU Medicine Childrens,'” said Wissman. “It’s a great event and this will be our 17th annual event, and over those 17 years we’ve raised over $250,000 for the hospital,” she said.
The performers who will take the stage for the 17th Annual Mohigan Idol will perform songs in a variety of fashions, with instruments dance routines and occasionally brought into the routine. According to Morgantown High School senior and Student Body President Andrew Sheets, who is also the emcee for the show, the students practice their routine for close to a month before Saturday’s performance. This is separate from the rigorous audition process in order for students to compete.
“Getting ready for the audition process is pretty tough because I think we had the audition three weeks ago, four weeks ago, so you have to be ready to go a month in advance,” said Sheets. “There’s no procrastination, and you have to be 100 percent ready,” he said.
According to Sheets, there will also be popular acts who will be returning to perform on Saturday, including students currently attending college out-of-state. The most notable is a barbershop quartet that consists of Morgantown High School students, which won the 16th Annual Mohigan Idol hosted last year. With students flying into Morgantown to take part in performances as well as some elementary school performers returning to the stage, Sheets feels it emphasizes the appreciation shown by the student body, both young and old, to be able to perform in front of their community.
“We’ve got some returning winners from last year, we had a really nice barbershop quartet, they’ve got a couple of kids in college flying back in, they’re really excited to perform,” said Sheets on WAJR’s Talk of the Town. “And then we’ve got some really good acts in the elementary school division as well, just a lot of people that are coming back that we’re familiar with, and we know they’re fantastic,” he said.
Admission will be $20 for those who wish to attend the 17th Annual Mohigan Idol, or you could donate to one of the 20 contestants “donation boxes” located in the Met lobby with all the proceeds going towards WVU Medicine Childrens’, the go-to organization for the show since its inception. According to both Wissman and Sheets, over $250,000 has been donated over the past 17 years, with the students currently just over $20,000 short of their goal this year. With performances taking place throughout the night, the Morgantown High School student body encourages residents to stop by and show their support while donating to a good cause.
“Entry is 100 percent donation-based, so you could walk in for free, or you could walk in and donate $20 in cash,” said Sheets. “We have boxes for every contestant that you can donate for, and it helps out that contestant, 25 percent of their score is based off of how much they are able to donate,” he said.