Four locals selected for West Tennessee Idol

Moore

Jeremy Lawson, Emily Westmoreland and Devon Box auditioned and were selected to participate in the West Tennessee Idol contest. They advance this month to the second round of competition: a live performance. [Click to enlarge]

Devon Box, Emily Westmoreland, Jeremy Lawson and David Moore auditioned and were selected in a qualifying round April 25 in Union City. They hope they all make it to the final round of competition, but they know only one person can win the title of West Tennessee Idol. The winner receives $1,000 cash, a recording session and a chance to compete in the state Colgate Country Showdown in Nashville.

All four Dyersburg residents are advancing to the second round, which features live performances in one of four locations: the Strawberry Festival in Humboldt on Saturday; The Ned in Jackson on May 16; Williams Auditorium in Henderson on May 22; and McKenzie on May 30. Twenty singers will advance to the next level.

The public will have a chance to select winners in the third round. Contestants record their songs and those recordings will be played on WYN 106.9 FM in Jackson. Two contestants' recordings will be featured each day between June 8 and June 19. The public votes online for each day's winner.

Ten finalists will perform June 28 at The Ned. A panel of music industry and celebrity judges will name the West Tennessee Idol.

Another Dyer Countian won the very first West Tennessee Idol title in 2003. Steven Whitson, who grew up in Trimble, is now the host and lead vocalist for The Tennessee Shindig in Pigeon Forge.

The quartet of Dyersburg residents participating in this year's contest include:

* Devon Box, a 17-year-old Dyersburg High School senior. She said she's been singing in her church for seven years. Last year, she competed in the Dyer County Fair and the Mid-South Fair in Memphis. With her high school days ending soon and pharmacy school on the horizon, Box thought she might as well enter the competition. "It's always been a dream job of mine to sing, so I thought, 'what the hey,'" she said. For her audition, Box sang "Broken," a song by Lindsey Haun that she described as a country/pop crossover tune.

* Emily Westmoreland, 24. She said she started singing like Patsy Cline when she was a child. She didn't start singing publicly until about two and a half years ago. Robbie Daniels, a disk jockey, forced her sing as part of a joke. She said she was scared at first, but she's been singing ever since. She's even found a career as a karaoke DJ. She sang the Dixie Chick's hit, "Let Er Rip," for her audition in Union City.

This isn't Westmoreland's first shot at stardom. She said she and another 9,999 singers participated in the 2007 "American Idol" auditions in Atlanta, Ga. She said she easily made it through the first round but was dropped in the second round. A judge told her she had a unique voice; he encouraged her to lose weight and come back the following year. She declined; the hotel and food costs were too expensive.

Westmoreland said she also auditioned for "America's Got Talent" in Nashville one winter. All of the performances were recorded and sent to the judges. Westmoreland said she never heard from the show.

"It's not that you're not a good singer," she said. "It's just a needle in a haystack."

* Jeremy Lawson, 25, a cashier at Tiger Express. Lawson said he got his musical start in the shower. His mother heard him singing one day and suggested that he start performing publicly. He began singing at the age of 18 and already has one title to his name. He won the Adamsville Idol contest and $200 cash during the 2008 Buford Pusser Festival. For that contest, he sang "I Swear" by John Michael Montgomery.

For the West Tennessee Idol auditions, he sang "Tonight I Want to Cry" by Keith Urban. He said he prefers singing country or rhythm and blues.

Lawson dreams of the day when his talent is discovered. He plans to compete next year in the "American Idol" competition and already has a sponsor lined up to help pay his expenses. He said WILD 100.7, a radio station in Corinth, Miss., made the offer Sunday while he was performing at the radio station.

* David Moore, 31, a full-time father to his 6-year-old daughter, Lexy. Moore said he's been singing since he was a child and made his public debut in a Hee Haw show in Bogota when he was 20. Moore advanced to the quarterfinals of the West Tennessee Idol competition in 2003. He decided to give it another shot this year. He still has aspirations of winning the contest and becoming a professional performer.

The West Tennessee Idol competition is sponsored by WYN 106.9 FM radio in Jackson, E.W. James Supermarkets and Dwain Seaton Ford in Henderson.