Poland’s Best second in singing contest

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Neighbors | Submitted.Poland's Brittany Best finished second at a singing competition at Thiel College. She was the only Ohioan to make the finals.

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Neighbors | Submitted.Poland Middle School student Brittany Best wowed the judges at the Greenville Symphony Orchestra Rising Stars competition April 23. She took second in the 8-15 age category behind a sophomore at at Sharpsville High School.

Poland Middle School’s Brittany Best recently finished a close second in the Greenville Symphony Orchestra Rising Stars amateur vocal competition at Thiel College.

Best performed her rendition of Barbra Streisand’s “Don’t Rain On My Parade” in the finals.

The contestants who sang April 23 were scored by a judges’ panel and audience members also cast their votes for the best competitor.

The judges were Gretchen Wagner, a singer from Hermitage; Luke Baird, a staff writer for Universal Music Publishing Group in Nashville; Glen Stevens, a reporter and anchor for WFMJ; and Tony Butala, a Sharon native and founder of The Lettermen singing group.

Best was one of six finalists in the 8-15 age category, which included 28 performers. The 14-year-old was the only Ohioan to make the finals in any of the three age groups. Kyle Whalen, a Sharpsville High School sophomore, won the youngest category competition.

Winners were also named in the 16-24 and 25 and older brackets.

“I was just happy to be on stage,” said Best, who has been performing with Easy Street Productions for the last 10 years and Liz Rubino Studios for past three years. “It was a great contest and I felt good because there were so many people who sought me out to let me know how good I was.”

Best has won the Poland Idol contest once and has not been eligible again until this year. She has also had second-place finishes in Canfield Idol, an event in Columbiana and in Youngstown Superstar. Winners of all three competitions are determined by audience voting.

The Poland Idol has music professionals for judges and no audience votes to even the playing field for those visiing from out of town.

“I’m eligible again this year for Poland Idol, so I might do that and whatever else comes up,” said Best. “I am focusing on the next show with my Voice Studio called “Broadway and Beyond,” which is July 31 at the Youngstown Playhouse.”