Etters woman wins Senior Idol

Intelligencer Journal

Jun 09, 2009 00:57 EST

Lancaster

By LORI VAN INGEN, Staff Writer

For the first time since Pennsylvania's statewide Senior Idol contest began four years ago, all three finalists were women.

One of them was Manheim resident Michele Hendricks Weiss, but ultimately it was Donna Mark, a 56-year-old woman from Etters, York County, who took the top prize Monday night at Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre. She won a trophy, flowers and a limousine trip to New York City.

"I was so blown away. There's so much talent here. I felt like anybody could win it," Mark said. "I can't believe it was me, and I have a cold. I'm in shock. I feel like I was on 'American Idol.' "

Mark's winning songs were "Superstar" and "Over the Rainbow." Hendricks Weiss sang "Georgia" and "Since I Fell for You." The third finalist, Diane Seeger of Philadelphia, sang "All That Jazz" and an "American Medley."

Before her performance, Hendricks Weiss said everyone at the Senior Idol competition had been great.

"They're all very nice, very talented people. We're all rooting for each other. It's a night filled with fun and joy, win or lose."

Peggy Kurtz Keller of Ephrata was the other local contestant among the 15 semifinalists, singing "They Can't Take That Away from Me." Keller was an alternate semifinalist last year and took to the stage after one of the semifinalists couldn't make it.

Mark wowed the four judges with her smooth, silky voice.

Judge Buddy King, an alumnus of The Magnificent Men, a 1960s R&B band based in central Pennsylvania, said he liked the way she approached a song. "You don't try to do too much. You just sing it and let it go. It's just very special and a pleasure listening to you."

"Your voice is so crisp and clear, it's beautiful," said judge Valerie Pritchett, an anchor for Harrisburg's Channel 27 News. "You have great control over your voice. As you form your words, it just comes from your stomach all the way out."

"Your voice is so smoothy-smooth and you look perfect for it. You're the full package," said judge Janelle Stelson, an anchor at WGAL Channel 8. "I felt the heartbreak when you were singing." And judge R.J. Harris, a morning DJ on WHP-AM radio, said Mark gave "the smoothest vocal performance I've heard."

Mark said her advice to anyone who enjoys singing is to just "get up there and do it. If you dream and want to be on stage, try karaoke. I always encourage people to get on the stage. Get up there and try it. You only have one life."

Mark began singing at age 30 when she and a girlfriend harmonized to the Judds' first album. She performed in clubs all over central Pennsylvania with her first band, Head Over Heels, and fronted several more bands over the years.

Mark now manages and sings lead in Flashback, a five-piece variety dance band.

Mark has recorded two albums, "Vocality," a mix of rock and country, and "Cloud Nine," a collection of big band jazz tunes.

Mark said she had the rare opportunity of singing with Wynonna Judd in 2007. Her husband, Dan Miller, won a chance to visit with the country music superstar backstage after her concert at the Strand Capitol Theatre in York.

During the backstage encounter, Mark asked Judd to sing "Silent Night" with her. Judd instantly began singing a capella, with Donna jumping in with the harmony.

E-mail: lvaningen@lnpnews.com