Garrett Mitchell
Felicia Owens won Greer Idol and the $1,500 first prize.
Garrett Mitchell
Roni Teems won Greer Idol Teen and the $750 first prize.
Garrett Mitchell
A perfect summer evening at Greer City Park's amphitheater meant good music and memories made on the dance flloor.
Garrett Mitchell
Terry Stoddard and the Encore band wrapped up the final evening of the summer's Tunes in the Park.
Felicia Owens claimed the crown of Greer Idol in the season finale at Tunes in the Park on Friday.
Owens wowed the crowd and the judges with a three-song performance that brought down the house that Terry Stoddard and his band Encore had rocked during their first set.
Roni Teems preceded those festivities with a stirring performance, which earned her the title of Greer Teen Idol.
Each contestant performed three songs, one of their choosing, one chosen by emcee Mike Lowry, and one song chosen by Lowry, which all five participants in both categories would sing.
That song, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," was literally knocked out of the park by all five singers, and Owens' performance of the timeless Judy Garland number contributed mightily to her victory.
"It was just a big wow," said Owens after being awarded the $1,500 grand prize for the adult Idol competition. "It was anybody's win tonight."
Owens also sang the Etta James classic "At Last" and "Son of a Preacher Man."
The other adult performers also brought the crowd to their feet. Mike Patterson added renditions of "Reflections" and the beautiful ballad "Let There be Peace on Earth" by Jill Jackson Miller and Sy Miller.
Crowd favorite Megan Watts delivered with Miranda Lambert's "House That Built Me," and her original "Should Have Known Better."
In the teen Idol competition, Teems scored big with the Smokey and the Miracles tune "Shop Around" and The Animals' ballad, "House of the Rising Sun." Zelena Hull performed "Somebody to Love" and Etta James' "Something's Got a Hold on Me."
The winner was chosen based on audience voting and judges' decisions.
Teems was crowned first, and was overcome with emotion when her name was called.
"It means a lot to me because when I was little I always loved singing," she said after taking the $750 prize. "It's easy for me to get up there and just have fun."
Front man Terry Stoddard led the featured band, Encore, and they shook, rattled, and rolled Greer City Park as well. The band played a selection of beach music, funk, Motown, and classic rock standards that had the crowd dancing all night long.
The evening, however, was about the talented Idol performers who sang their songs, as one judge put it, "better than American Idol."
"It's been a great experience," Owens said. "I haven't been on stage a lot. I haven't pushed myself as much earlier in my life as some of these other performers have. Just the experience of being on stage in Greer and having the audience interaction is just really amazing."
Teems added that she even has her sights set on the adult Idol competition in a few years.
"I want to do it," she said. "If they still have it, and I'm praying they do, I want to be in it in a couple of years."