Vote Now: 'Newton Has Talent' Top 20 Semifinalists
The 10 acts with the most votes will perform in the March 24 concert and have a chance at cash prizes.
After collecting submissions from across the city, Newton Has Talent has narrowed the list down to 20 semifinalists -- and they need your vote.
Each act will be judged on the number of "likes" the act receives on YouTube. The 10 acts with the most votes will move on to the finals and will perform in a Newton Has Talent show on March 24.
All 20 acts are available to view on the Newton Has Talent YouTube page. Links to specific acts are included below.
Voting for the top 20 acts ends at midnight on Sunday, March 10.
Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Newton, the Newton Has Talent finals show will be held Sunday, March 24 at Newton North High School at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door.
The grand prize winner of the talent show, who will be chosen on March 24, will receive $1,000.
The top 20 acts are:
- Sam Druker
- Elaine Dai
- Remy McArthur
- CrossFire & Asia
- Ariel Bavly
- Elizabeth Rinkus
- Abby Lass
- Cristina Gallo
- Jake Kim
- Yahor Rovin
- Ada Moisescu
- Laura Hernandez
- Four Noble Truths
- Margaret Zhao
- Celina Siegel
- Stanislav Antonevich and Leo Loginov Katz (Gypsy Jazz Duo)
- The JockaBellas
- Waiting for Neil
- James Straight and the Wide Stance
- Tema Siegel
Adam Maleson
9:38 am on Saturday, March 9, 2013
These videos are in a playlist, so when you click any one of them you just have to click the right arrow at the top right corner to go through all the videos, so you don't have to click each individual link if you want to see all the contestants.
The judging system is a bit weird. Who gets the most YouTube thumbs up has other factors than just Newton judging, since anyone in the world can vote on them, and who already has the biggest base of YouTube fans on their channel can greatly affect how many votes they get.
The best one was Ada Moisescu, and not just because her name begins with AdaM. Though that could be an omen.
Adam Maleson
9:46 am on Saturday, March 9, 2013
In fact, if they wanted to make the judging fairer, what they should have done is repost each submitted video on the Newton Has Talent channel itself, that way number of Subscribers to any contestant's channel would have less of an effect on the number of votes on their video, although even that would still have an effect.
This is kind of like having X-Factor or American Idol winners judged by the television viewing audience rather than judges panel, except not even quite that fair, since contestants with more personal contacts can send out mailings asking people to vote for them.