Clinton Idols rock the Oldies at the Strand.

Byline: Jan Gottesman

CLINTON - The 13 Clinton Idol contestants stepped up for an Oldies performance last Sunday night. The contestants, performing to a full house at the Strand, in previous rounds had faced elimination, and could choose their own theme. This past Sunday was the first of three "themed" shows.

Clinton Idol, a fund raiser for the Rotary Scholarship Fund, is co-sponsored by Compulaine's Wifi Cafe, Spruce Street Tavern, the Strand Theatre, The Item and Digital Dreams Broadcasting.

Judges for the week 5 competition were: DJ Pat McIntyre; Clinton Public Schools Music Teacher Carol O'Malley; Wachusett Music Series Founder Jean Syria; Beth Burns, of the Wachusett Chamber, Tara's Salon, Burns Stump Grinding and Realty Vision; and Kevin O'Malley, of the Wine Merchant. Starting with this performance, contestants were judged on five criteria, including voice, stage presence, audience reaction and how much they got into the music.

Patti Amral performed "Killer Queen" by Queen, noting that Queen was one of her favorite bands.

Burns said she was a "huge" fan of Queen and praised Amral's performance.

"You did a good job with the range of voice," Burns said.

"You have a velvety quality to your voice and I like that," Carol O'Malley said.

Misti Dahl performed "You Ain't Woman Enough to Take My Man," by Loretta Lynn. She said she chose the song because "it was from my grandmother's era. My husband likes it and my 3-year-old daughter can sing it word for word."

McIntyre noted that Dahl's voice matched the song well.

"You have the ability to be twangy in a good way," Burns said, "and you captured the song."

Steven DeLeon performed "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," by the Temptations.

"When I was young, I saw a movie on the Temptations and always loved the group," DeLeon said.

The judges all praised DeLeon's performance, noting he needed to hold the microphone closer to make sure it captures the "magic" of his voice.

Krista Duchnowski performed "Knock on Wood," by Amii Stewart, noting it was a "fun song."

The judges noted that while she had a strong stage presence, she had pitch problems during parts of the song.

"The parts that were on key were awesome and getting the audience to participate was great," Burns said.

Marjorie Frias performed "Can't Help Myself," by the Four Tops. she noted it was a good song, which older people know, but so does her 10-year-old cousin.

"Your stage presence is excellent," Syria said, but she noted that Frias got lost in...