DREAMS

By MATT BIXENSTINE
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
ILEY NEUROHR CAME, SHEsang, she conquered.
The 20-year-old New Castle woman was selected from 189 contestants who auditioned Thursday for the opportunity to go in front of producers of the "American Idol" TV show Aug. 25 in New York City and potentially to perform when the popular Fox series begins its third season in January.
In winning over the quartet of judges at the local "American Idol" audition at McMenamy's Restaurant and Banquet Center in Niles, Neurohr sang an enthusiastic rendition of Shania Twain's "Man! I Feel Like a Woman." She also felt like a winner.
"I was very nervous for my first performance," said Neurohr of singing Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools," the song that made her one of three semifinalists. "But on the second performance I just let loose."
Starting out
Neurohr said her teachers first noted her vocal ability when she would sing in front of her preschool class at age 3. The teachers shared this discovery with her parents, Earl and Debbie Neurohr.
"That's when they knew I had a singing voice," Neurohr said.
Since then, Neurohr, a student at the Penn State Cosmetology Academy in Hermitage, Pa., has sung in choirs that have toured Europe, acted in theater productions such as "Annie" and sang in Lonewolf, a country music band.
She auditioned for the second season of "American Idol" last year at Jillian's in Southern Park Mall, finishing fourth. But even before that, she had ambitions of achieving a career in music.
"This is a dream for her," Debbie Neurohr said. "I hope she can take it a little farther -- this is something she's always wanted to do."
Other semifinalists
Molly Gonzalez, 16, of Hammondsville in Jefferson County, and Emily Plaskett, 20, of Canfield, were the other two semifinalists at the event, which drew at least 1,000 performers and spectators, according to an official from Fox 17/62 WYFX.
The 5-hour local audition was free and open to contestants ages 16 to 24 with no record, management or entertainment contract. The contestants, whose names were drawn randomly to determine audition order, had 60 seconds to sing a song of their choice either a cappella or with accompaniment.
Thursday's auditioners did everything from Mariah Carey songs to freestyle rapping to renditions of the national anthem.
"Over 20,000 kids auditioned [nationwide] last year," said John Amann Jr., director of promotion/production at WKBN, Channel 27. "Only 32 make the show.
"Those who make it must have singing ability, personality and a certain sparkle to put them over the edge and beyond everyone else," he said.
Chance of a lifetime
Some of Thursday's contestants, like Lauren Stein, 22, of Liberty, considered the audition a 60-second opportunity of a lifetime to get chosen or at least gain exposure.
"I've been singing since I was a little girl," she said. "I have a recording studio in my basement. Hopefully this will be my big break."
Others, including Leah Neff, 18 of Girard, who didn't decide what she was singing until five minutes before she took the stage, just wanted to have fun.
"Last year I refused to go, but this year my friends talked me into it," she said. "It's a good experience -- there's a lot of talent here."
"American Idol," which began in the United Kingdom as "Pop Idol," took the United States by storm when Fox aired the first season last summer. The series has since spawned multiplatinum recording artists. More than 38 million viewers saw the finale of the second season in May.
Fox 17/62 sponsored the local audition, along with 95.9 KISS FM and Shooting Star Entertainment, a professional disc jockey service.
Its judges, all local, were Bob Crosby, president of the Vocal Group Hall of Fame Foundation & amp; Museum in Sharon, Pa.; Frank Dodd, lead singer for local band, Frankie and the Sensations; Becky Keck, director of Students Motivated by the Arts at Youngstown State University; and Jerry Mack, disc jockey from 95.9 KISS-FM.