Contest for 'over 55' singers a hit

Standing quietly still onstage, Bobbi Ferguson sang clear and strong, traveling easily up and down the melody line of Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” during her first performance at the Boomer Idol competition Saturday.

The audience of about 400 sat hushed, listening, and when she let go of her last note they burst into applause.

Ferguson, 59, a Naples resident, was among 10 local residents selected to compete for a $1,000 prize in the Coastland Center mall’s competition, which was billed as “A salute to the best singers over 55.”

When contestant Jim Corsica heard someone was going to sing “Crazy,” he thought, “she’ll be one to watch, because you don’t sing that song unless you have the pipes for it.”

He was right; Ferguson took home first prize.

“I just love music,” said Ferguson, who cited Roy Orbison, Tina Turner and Whitney Houston as some of her favorite vocalists. “My repertoire ranges from the big band era to today’s music. I love good, dynamic songs.”

At 20 minutes before showtime, every seat in the mall courtyard was taken and people stood in clusters around the stage.

Each contestant sang one song in the first round. Then the three judges — Sharon Downey, who works with seniors for Collier County; Susan Utz, editor of N magazine; and Elaine Hamilton, executive director of the United Arts Council of Collier County — chose four to move onto the second round.

“I am 77-years young and I am a singer,” announced Neil Moss when he stepped up to sing “Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby.” When he didn’t make it to the second round, people clustered around him with compliments, saying, “we thought you were wonderful,” and “you should have won!”

During Corsica’s rendition of Confederate Railroad’s “Trashy Woman” people were clapping and tapping — and laughing, too.

“A few weeks ago, I jokingly said to my girlfriend that if I had to pick a song that represents us I’d pick that one,” Corsica said. “And then I decided, what the heck, how many times am I going to get to sing in front of people. I wanted to make them laugh.”

Dino Marquard also earned laughs when he stepped onstage wearing a black suit and an untied bow tie with a glass in hand. He blew kisses to the audience, waved at kids and pretended to hurt himself while dancing during an interlude in his song, “That’s Amore.”

Marquard joined Ferguson, Dick Bell and Thomas Tramazzo in the second round.

Pat Rodgers and Peggy Paradise, two friends who have lived in Naples for about 25 years, decided to attend even though they didn’t know any of the performers.

“We just came to applaud,” Rodgers said. “We’re cheering them on.”

When Ferguson danced and sang to Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best” in the second round the crowd responded with smiles and cheers.

“When I hear certain music I just have to dance,” Ferguson said, explaining that her dance wasn’t choreographed. “I like to be spontaneous. I just feel the music.”