With slideshow: Pioneer's FutureStars Talent Competition was a cliffhanger

Posted: Jan 16, 2010 at 11:56 PM [Jan 16, 2010]

Critics of the hit TV show “Glee” who think so much raw talent would be hard to find in a real-world high school need to check out the Pioneer Theatre Guild.

Finals for the group’s FutureStars 2010 talent competition were held Saturday night, and it was a real cliffhanger. Round after round of voting was required to pick a winner from what was clearly an immensely talented pool of young people.

Ultimately a decision was made, by audience acclaim and a final vote by the judges. For the second year running, the competition resulted in a tie, witn Ryan Yunck and John Spalding named winners. 

Yunck accompanied himself on a rendition of Billy Joel’s “Piano Man,” while Spalding sang “Dance With My Father” by Luther Vandross. Both seniors said they are planning careers in music.

Judges were Cake Nouveau owner/Food Network challenge competitor Courtney Clark, local radio personality Lucy Ann Lance, actor/Pioneer grad Zack Pearlman and Philip van Spronsen, a screenwriter and University of Michigan alumnus.

The judges said they were impressed by both performers’ maturity.

“You could definitely make a record tomorrow and I would buy it,” Clark said after Spalding’s solo.

“You put so much emotion into a song that’s usually sung by drunk frat boys … it blew my mind,” Pearlman said of Yunck’s performance.

A group effort by Space Cadet (Ryan Yunck, Max Hully, Amin Lanseur, Ben Pernick, Ryan King and Hannah Pearlman) to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” came in third. The three other finalists were the rap duo DSB (Mani Harring and Anthony Porter) and vocalists Maia Gleason and Robby Eisentrout.

They faced some stiff competition. Audience favorite Leo Bayless-Hall just about stopped the show with his no-holds-barred version of Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls.” Mara Abramson’s performance of the Disney classic “When You Wish Upon a Star” proved there’s a place already waiting for her on the Broadway stage. And Schuyler Robinson and back-up dancers gave Lady Gaga a run for the money with a fierce, flashy version of the pop hit “Bad Romance.”

Several times during the show, the judges said they were blown away by the students’ skills.

“What are they putting in the water in Ann Arbor?” Clark asked. “This is so unlike my high school.” 

Lance agreed, asking at one point, “Is there anything you kids can’t do?”

While the judges were deliberating, Lucciana Costa, a former member of the Pioneer Theatre Guild who is now pursuing a career in music, and her band, offered two songs.

The finalists for Saturday's show where chosen in previous competitions.

“I’m still kind in shock, I think,” Yunck said after the results were announced. “It’s pretty awesome. It was great experience, and I was glad to be a part of it.”

“This is truly amazing, I can’t believe it,” said Spalding, who plans a career in music and musical theater. “This is the first time I’ve made the finals. … I’ve been in FutureStars the last three years.”

As he was enjoying the congratulations of friends and family in the hallway outside Schrieber Auditorium, a man who said he was an agent introduced himself and handed Spalding his card. From such beginnings, careers are made.

As they say on TV, "Welcome to Hollywood."

Roger LeLievre is a freelance writer who covers music for AnnArbor.com.