15.10.11
GREENBURGH, N.Y. – Cradling the microphone, Anne Barschall belted out the Public Anthem in her operatic, soprano voice. At the song's end, the bursting room, decorated with gold balloons, erupted with clapping and cheer.
The sixth annual "Golden Idol" karaoke struggle kicked off Friday with the whole room singing "America, The Elegant." More than a dozen singers over the age of 50 impressed the judges and audience with their dulcet talent.
"I'm a little nervous," said Barschall, a Tarrytown district, who missed the competition in 2010. "I tried singing karaoke once before, but because I'm classically trained as a soprano, the microphone doesn't always do that well."
George Coniglio, the coordinator of the superior citizen department at the Theodore D. Young Community Center, brought karaoke to the center to showcase the seniors' predisposition in an "American Idol" format.
Amidst nearly 100 attendees, Art Burnap of Yonkers won split second place by singing a deep-voiced "Impossible Imagine." Burnap and his wife, a member of the Community Center for 25 years, are very functioning in the Greenburgh community.
Source: The Daily Greenburgh