“The Woodlands Idol” now “Texas Star: Pure Texas, Pure Talent”

THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- The Woodlands Idol has undergone a complete transformation for its ninth annual event. Founded in 2007 by The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce as a venue for local singing talent, it was recently acquired by Donna Wick, CEO of Wicked Publicity, and given a new title and mission: “Texas Star: Pure Texas. Pure Talent.” The event is sponsored by presenter Mercedes-Benz of The Woodlands.

The singing competition was originally conceived by the Chamber, but eventually grew to be too large and too community-based to remain under the Chamber’s umbrella. When the Chamber announced it would no longer host the event, Wick took the opportunity to become the new host. Her first step was to strategically partner with Mathew Knowles, father of Beyoncé and who has represented acts such as Destiny’s Child and Earth, Wind & Fire, to bring an additional level of professionalism and credibility to the competition.

“As a Woodlands-based public relations and publicity firm that not only enjoys strong relationships with area businesses and media outlets, but also national and international reach and impact, we are excited to host a competition that caters to our core strengths,” Wick said. “With Texas Star, entrants from the area and surrounding region will experience a whole new competition event, with greater community involvement, upscaled sponsorship opportunities, larger prizes and higher stakes.” Additionally, an Austin-based version of Texas Star will run in the same time frame this year, with a five-city Texas roll-out planned for next year, culminating in a statewide champion “Texas Star” whose prize will include performing at SXSW.

The Woodlands singing competition is based in Montgomery County but has opened registration to applicants from all over the state of Texas. The preliminary rounds of Texas Star: The Woodlands will be held on October 16, 23 and 30 at Crescent Moon Wine Bar located at 440 Rayford Road in Spring. “At each of the three preliminary rounds, we’ll take the first 30 paid contestants,” said Wick. “Each singer will be given 90 seconds to sing their song and impress our celebrity guest judges and the fans that will be in the audience. Each preliminary round will end with nine judges’ picks and one ‘wildcard’ contestant chosen by the audience.”

The 30 winners of the preliminaries will advance to the semifinal round to be held on November 6 at Papa’s Beer & Ice House located at 314 Pruitt Road in Spring. Again, the nine judges’ picks and one audience-selected wildcard will advance to the final round, which will be held at Papa’s Beer & Ice House on November 20. The winner takes home a substantial prize package that will include studio session time, a complete makeover, performing opportunities, cash prizes, and the all-important bragging rights.

The Austin singing competition, being presented by MW Cleaners, will hold its preliminary rounds on October 15, 22 and 29 with the same advancement format as The Woodlands’ version. The semi-finals will be held November 5 and the finals will be held November 19. All rounds in Austin will be held at Speakeasy, located at 412 Congress Avenue.

To enter in either The Woodlands or Austin competition, contestants must be residents of Texas, be at least 18 years of age, and pay a registration fee. Contestants can register and audience members can purchase tickets at www.TexasStar-TheWoodlands-Prelims.EventBrite.com for The Woodlands competition and www.TexasStar-Austin.EventBrite.com for the Austin competition. For more information on the competition, or to inquire about sponsorship opportunities, visit www.TheOfficialTexasStar.com, or contact Sharla Grayson at 832-993-1604.