The Kootenays’ Best Singer competition in Cranbrook closed after a tense competition engaged an audience of all ages on Saturday night.
Once the dust settled it would be a hometown girl taking home top honors with Cranbrook’s Trena Spears handed the title of the Kootenays’ Best Singer.
Trail competitors Colin Lindgren and Katie Loughlin joined the cast of 14 singers who performed one song in the opening round of the competition.
Judges selected five singers to advance to the final stage of the competition – Matt Hansen from Creston, duo Jesse Dumas and Jairus Stonehouse from Creston, Victoria Walker from Fernie, Connor Parnall from Cranbrook and Spears
Each singer captivated the audience with a second performance, but two people stood out.
Spears, who delivered a stirring rendition of Martina McBride’s “My Valentine,” won first place including $1,000 in cash, time in a recording studio and the opportunity to air one of her own songs on a Cranbrook radio station.
Hansen placed and the Dumas and Stonehouse duo placed third.
Kootenays’ Best Singer producer Vern Gorham said he was very pleased with the final competition.
The second season of the event will start with a contest in Grand Forks on Aug. 28.
The rest of the West Kootenay including Trail, Castlegar and Nelson will have contests in the fall season following Grand Forks.