After receiving dozens of entries, thousands of votes and four rounds of competition, we finally have a winner for the Star Tribune Amateur Talent Contest.
The top vote-getter in our final round of voting in our virtual State Fair competition was: the Holtze family of Rosemount, performing Peggy Lee's signature tune "Fever," with kitchen utensils. Daughter Madison is the lead singer, dad John on the upright bass and daughter Petra providing percussion with scrubbing pads and a skillet, with additional instrumentation provided by kitchen tongs and a spray bottle.
Words don't do it justice. See for yourself at startribune.com/fairtalent.
In second place was Josh Melchert, a St. Paul 13-year-old, who played the blues guitar during an impromptu family jam session on a Stevie Ray Vaughan song, "Pride and Joy." This kid can shred.
And in third place was Mya Ortiz, 17, of Burnsville, who sang Sara Bareilles' "She Used to Be Mine" in her garage while quarantining at home with mild symptoms of COVID-19 after testing positively for the virus. Even in a pandemic, the show must go on.
The runners-up in our hotly contested finals are:
•Pizza acrobat Nick Diesslin of Maplewood who showed off his flair for artistic dough-throwing.
•The Gray family of Northfield, including dad Charles, mom Deonne, son Cameron and daughters Brynne and Kylie, who played Bach's Suite No. 2 in B Minor, movements Minuet and Badinerie, on violin, viola, cello and flute in their dining room while their dog Sadie listened.
•Anders Holst, 17, of Mounds View, who belted "Out There" from the Disney animated film "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" from his basement.
•Adelyn Meyerring, 9, of Minneapolis, who played and sang a song she wrote, "Beat of the Drum Set."
•Ballet dancer Reagan Mushett, 14, performing a variation from the Sleeping Beauty ballet on a deck outside her Apple Valley home.
•Mike Simonett of Minnetonka, who showed off his loon calling skills on a Minnesota lake.
If you missed any of these fun and heartfelt one-minute mini performances, go to our contest website, startribune.com/fairtalent. That's where you'll find videos of the winners, the finalists and all other contestants.
Thanks to everyone who performed and the thousands who voted.
Richard Chin • 612-673-1775
