Updated magic show featuring Dinky Gowen,
MASTER OF ILLUSIONS is on stage every day except Thursdays - magic, illusions,
ventriloquism and good ole' family fun! Magic, comedy, ventriloquism
and illusions in one awesome show---don't miss it!
Retro Rock Stage Show
An updated "Retro Rock"
show returns in 2010 featuring classic tunes of the 60's, 70's, and 80's
set to exhilarating dancing and featuring a little funny business
and a whole lot of family fun. Shows five days a week, several times
each day. Show schedule includes performances every day except
Tuesday and Wednesdays.
Kent Family Magic Circus returns For
Kids Festival in 2010
The Kent Family Magic Circus will return to
Beech Bend Park in 2010 for the 3rd Annual Kids Festival--July 12th
through the 25th. The
Kent Family entertains with unbelievable magic and illusions, plus stilt
walkers, juggling, fire breathing, characters and more. Be sure to
bring the kids during the Kids Festival for special activities, face
painting, balloon animals and more.
Beech Bend Super Star Singing Competition Returns in 2010
The popular Beech Bend Super Star Singing
Competition will
return and showcase exceptional regional talent in 2010. The
season will kick off with an encore performance by last year's winner,
Landri Taylor. Landri will perform on Saturday, May 29th.
The competition will begin on June 5th and run through September 11th.
Show time is 2:30 each Saturday. This year's winner will receive:
a fully paid scholarship to the 3 day Nashville Music Business Camp
presented by top Nashville music executives, a Honey Oak acoustic guitar
autographed by Teddy Gentry and donated by Porter and Gentry Productions
and PCG Nashville, an appearance on PCG Nashville Showcase, and 2
tickets to the Grand Old Opry. Simply send a text message or email
to
beechbendsuperstar@gmail.com to sign up or to anwser any questions.
BOWLING
GREEN — Former Barren County High School student Cameron Whitman joined
two others in advancing to the final stage of the weekly singing
competition held at Beech Bend Park in Bowling Green known as
“Superstar.”
Whitman performed his own rendition of the Oasis hit single “Wonderwall”
while playing an acoustic guitar to the liking of the judging panel who
advanced him to the final competition.
Now a resident of Edmonson County, Whitman says he is ready to take his
recreational love for music to a new level.
“Even when I got to the lowest times of my life and I'd think I'd lost
it all music is what picked me up.” said Cameron after the show.
“I enjoy singing and playing while sitting around with my friends. They
just start making their requests and I pick it out for them. I have been
writing songs for about 10 years and every day I try to write some type
of lyrics down. It is great when you sing a song that you've written and
my friends get into the song and you can tell they get the connection. I
am really looking forward to the finals in September and maybe this will
open up some doors for me.”
The third time was a charm for Christian County singer, 12- year-old
Caleb Lake, who was also one of the three winners this past Saturday at
Beech Bend Park.
Lake, who had competed twice earlier in the season, performed the song
“Follow Me” by Uncle Kracker, complete with with what has become his
signature move, a flawless moonwalk across the park’s performance
stage. In addition to some fancy dance steps, Lake to his own surprise
was able to inspire the crowd of nearly 200 who gathered to watch to
clap in harmony to his performance.
“Wow, I really haven’t ever been able to get anyone to do what I asked
them to do, like clap with me” said the surprised youngster while
talking with the show’s host David Gary after the song ended.
Caleb joined 11-year-old Riley Cruz of Franklin, Tenn., who sang her way
to the finals edging out her own brother Raymond among nine other
contestants on the judge’s score sheets.
The three finished deadlocked with 26 points of a possible 30 after
deliberations by the three judges. Strum Magazine Editor Krys Midgett,
MM Publishing owner Mitzi Matlock, and Nichola Spencer of 102.5 “The
Party” FM and 102.9 “The Buzz” FM Nashville made up the celebrity panel
while the show added radio personality Tammy Sexton of the
Campbellsville, Kentucky radio station 99.9 FM “The Big Dawg” as a
co-host and sound technician Austin Gruber to its growing roster of
staff for the season.
Contest rules allow show producer and host David Gary to break any ties
in the scoring, but after Gary pulled out the three leaders to step
forward on the stage, the Edmonton, radio jock admitted to having “cold
feet” in making a decision.
“I just couldn’t get myself to send any of those three home without a
win after they all did such a fine job today” admitted Gary after the
show.
Gary, who produces the show for the park along with Beech Bend Director
of Group Ticket Sales Sherry Clouse, is excited about how the show, in
its second season, seems to have gained tremendous momentum in
participation.
"Thanks to a really strong series of relationships we have made with
some solid players in the music business since last season, we have not
only seen a dramatic increase in participation with our show, but we
have seen interest from media from as far away as Florida, Texas, and
even California who are calling me when they catch word about who we
have showing up week after week to appear on our judging panel.”
Clouse says she too is almost overwhelmed with the inquiries this season
from curious would-be contestants.
"Last year, we had some tremendous talent. But this year the word has
spread like wildfire, and when people hear they can not only perform at
the amusement park, but get to perform in front of some of the
industry's top people, they are excited to sign up and participate.
Once we posted on the park's website (www.beechbend.com) how to sign up
it just took off. We have a factory from Horse Cave, Kentucky coming
in a couple weeks to have a company picnic at the park and from what I
understand several of their employees are wanting to participate. It
just has really been a great extra value this season for our guests at
the park.”
The Bowling Green amusement park will hold seven more weekly
competitions before determining a winner Sept. 11, in a final
competition facing each of the weekly winners since June 5 against one
another.
Last season, Landri Taylor of Bethpage, TN was the park’s champion.
Dominique Dy
is 8 years old and is a straight A, 3rd grade student at Madison
Creek Elementary. She will be entering the 4th grade this fall.
She will also be entering the finals of Beech Bend Park's
"Superstar" singing competition after being the high scorer in
this Saturday's competition.
She started singing at the age of 7. In 2009, she has
participated in 2 productions of the Nashville Opera, "LaBoheme"
and "Tosca".
Dominique has also won 1st place child division category
victories for the 2009 Sumner County Fair Talent Contest, the
2009 Wilson County Fair Talent Contest, the 2009 Mule Town Idol
(Columbia, TN), and the 2009 Tennessee State Fair Talent
Contest.
The diminutive Dy delivered a much larger-than-life performance
of the Mariah Carey hit song "I'll Be There", to multiple
standing ovations at the Bowling Green, KY theme park. Her
performance was good enough to place as the top performer, along
with Bullitt County native, fourteen year old Amber Sewell after
a five person judging panel that included music industry icon
Bernard Porter scored their performances.
The performance by Dy was enough to draw the attention of one of
the show's judges, Nashville recording artist Jeremy Parsons.
"Young lady, if you keep singing like you just did, you will
have a CD out of your own, and 'I'll be there' " said Parsons
who was participating on the show's judging panel as part of a
promotional tour of his latest CD release "Doggondest Feelin' ".
Parsons also performed the title track of his new work as the
scores were tabulated.
Dominique continues to perform at numerous vocal venues,
including local fair / festivals and fund raining events.
Dominique receives vocal training / instructions from Kasey
McCormick at Allegro School of Music in Madison, TN & from
Jessica Ford at the Singing Studio in Nashville, TN. Dominique
is the eldest daughter of Marc and Flo Dy.
Beech Bend has hosted the "Superstar" competition since 2009, as
Portland, TN native Robin White of Disciple Productions joined
Kentucky radio personality and event producer David Gary, along
with the park's group ticket sales coordinator Sherry harper
Clouse to produce the 90 minute talent show, loosely based on
such television shows as Nashville Star, American Idol, and
America's Got Talent.
Weekly winners of the 12 week audition process return to the
park September 11, where Dy, Sewell and all of the finalists
will compete for the title of "Beech bend Superstar 2010" in
addition to a long list of prizes supplied by the park's
partners and show sponsors, along with the opportunity to
headline a concert at the park's new IGA Amphitheater.
Photo Credit: Tammy Tarter
Photo Caption: Dominique Dy and
Amber Sewell were tops at Saturday's Beech Bend Superstar
Competition.
Mackenzie Morgan,
a talented thirteen year old singer from Murfreesboro,
Tennessee, was picked as the third weekly winner of Beech Bend
Park's Superstar talent showcase. Morgan will be invited back
September 11 to compete against all of the weekly winners from
the twelve rounds of auditions the Bowling Green theme park is
holding in the second season of their popular program.
Morgan, who has
performed at the White House in addition to performing last year
on Maury Povich's "Most Talented Kids", sang "Almost Lover" by
the group "A Fine Frenzy"
Judges for the third week of auditions included Kentucky radio
personality Tammy Sexton, in addition to In the Spotlight
Entertainment President Shenia Moyer. Joining Moyer and Sexton
were recording artists Scott Steele and Mitch Kamp of Nashville
who collaborated on the current radio hit "Everyday Heroes."
Talented singers like Mackenzie Morgan are making their way to
the stage in Bowling Green's Beech Bend theme park due to the
extra duty pulled by the show's co-producer Sherry Harper
Clouse.
Sherry who in her 30 years of work in the industry has worked
with such talent as Kid Rock, Vince Gill, and LeAnn Rimes prior
to her role with the Superstar contest and is pleased with how
much progress the show has made since it's creation in the
spring of 2009.
"If we can help some
of these people get closer to their dream of being a performing
artist, then our show has done its job." said Clouse. "There are
so many people who are out there and haven't been discovered
that this program is just one more stepping stone for people to
be able to be seen and heard. It also adds a tremendous value
to our park, to have a showcase of this much talent taking place
each Saturday."
Clouse, whose role as Group Ticket Sales director for the theme
park allows her to travel throughout Tennessee and Kentucky and
spread the word about the contest, in addition to attending the
county fairs and festivals common to each area during the spring
and summer months.
"Some of these small county fairs have produced some big talent,
for instance last season, five of our finalists were discovered
at the Hart County fair" added Clouse.
The talent show, which has many similarities to the successful
television programs America's Got Talent, American Idol, and
Nashville Star is hosted by Kentucky radio personality David
Gary, and engineered by Disciple Productions President, Robin
White. Contestants perform in front of a panel of judges who
score the competitors on three different categories:
presentation, personality, and presentation.
Beech Bend will hold
nine additional Saturday auditions for the September finale to
determine who will take home the honor of the title of Beech
Bend Superstar 2010. The winner receives an opportunity to host
a concert of their own to kick off the 2011 park season, in
addition to a large package of prizes provided by the show's
partners and sponsors.
Superstar begins at Beech Bend Park; 2
Portland residents in top 5
Tristan McIntosh, 10, of
Pleasant View, Tenn. was one of three
winners in Saturday's three-way tie with her
rendition of Martina McBride's "Broken Wing"
in Beech Bend Park's Superstar talent
competition.
Beech Bend Park in Bowling Green, Ky., began competition
for the second season of their popular singing talent
competition known as Superstar on Saturday, and the
opening lineup of contestants was not short of talent.
Three performers outscored the field of 12 and finished
deadlocked with the top score Saturday at the park and
will be invited back to compete against all of the
weekly winners in a star-studded September finale.
Perhaps the most memorable performance was delivered by
10-year-old Tristan McIntosh of Pleasant View, Tenn.,
who sang the Martina McBride song "Broken Wing."
"I haven't seen a 10-year-old get up on a stage and
deliver a performance like that in quite some time. And
the last time it happened, it was a young lady by the
name of LeAnn Rimes" said contest judge Preshias Harris,
a client strategist for PCG Nashville.
Also earning top honors were 14-year-old Allison Bray of
Louisville, Ky., and Vikki Petty of Scottsville, Ky.
Portland's Elena Korol finished in fourth place, while
Portland High School student Miranda Stickrod finished
in fifth place.
Contestants compete in front of a judging panel who
scores the contestants in three categories: personality,
presentation and delivery. The contestant, or in
Saturday's case contestants, with the most points at the
end of the show is invited back to compete in a finale
sing-off for an opportunity to host their own concert at
the Kentucky theme park, in addition to a package of
prizes provided by the show's sponsors.
Twelve contestants from four states competed in
Saturday's opener and were scored by a four-judge panel
consisting of Harris, recording artist Jeremy Parsons,
NY-LA-NASH entertainment president Tina-Marie Holland,
and Portland Leader editor
Sonya
Thompson.
The Superstar competition will take place weekly until
the final week of August, and the park is still
accepting contestants for the show.
Special Live Concerts Included with Park
Admission
The following artists will be performing
on the IGA Stage next to the Tilt-a-Whirl at Beech Bend Park:
