Taste of Talent returns with mix of homegrown and out-of-town singers

It will be a mix of familiar faces and out-of-town newbies when this year's Taste of Talent vocal competition kicks off Wednesday, June 28.

“One of the wonderful things about this competition is that we get participation from singers outside Franklin and the communities immediately around us. This gives everyone a chance to hear new voices and us a chance to showcase our city to visitors,” said Pat Dolecki, president of the Franklin Fine Arts Council, which organizes the annual concert series.

Dolecki said 19 people applied to be part of the competition this year with a dozen being chosen to participate, including a transplant from Mifflintown, a native who lives in Pittsburgh and a singer from Ridgeway.

Returning contestants included Iris Callahan of Vowinkel, Tim Craver of Franklin, Ruth Herrick of Greenville, Lindsey Crabtree of Oil City and Alexander Karg of Pittsburgh. New to Taste of Talent are Mathew Myers of Oil City, Lauren Clarke George of Lucinda, Jacob Kunselman of Ridgeway, Jessica Gahr of Utica, Tabatha Pelletier of Enola, Lexie Gilson of Mifflintown and Alexis Jack of Franklin. ​

All 12 will perform beginning at 7 p.m. on June 28 and July 5. Audience members will be given a chance to vote each night and ballot totals from the two nights will be combined to determine the first elimination of the competition. Additional voting and eliminations will be done following singing on July 12, July 19, and July 26.

​The semi-finals will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5. And the audience will vote on the $1,000 winner during the finals at 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 6. All the performances will be held in Bandstand Park. 

Dolecki, who lead the charge in the vote counting room for many years, will be stepping away to do other competition-related duties once handled by the late Ronnie Beith. In Dolecki's place, seven other volunteers will work together to tabulate each week's votes. 

"The core group of volunteers from past years will continue to help me and I am very grateful for their support," Dolecki said. "The Taste of Talent family is very close and will do everything possible for this to continue as Ronnie would of loved."

There will be a slight shuffling of duties on the stage and at the judges' table this year as well.

Former winner and frequent special guest Randy Moorehead will take on the emcee duties starting in week 2. The 2012 co-champion Rachel Mellor and well-known area singer Tammi Dahl will serve as this year's judges and mentors. Long-time judge and former winner Nathaniel Licht will fill in as needed, including the opening night of emcee duties. Another former winner, Joey Lillard will assist Dolecki with set-up tasks.  

“This is one of our most popular summer events. Many of our residents and visitors eagerly await this announcement and mark their calendars to be at all the concerts,” Dolecki said. “Based on the audition packets, we promise that everyone will be excited to listen to this year’s contestants. It’s going to be another great year for Taste of Talent.”

People can follow along with this year’s competition by searching or posting on social media with the hashtags of #TasteofTalent and #TasteofTalent23. ​

(This story was updated to correct the year that Rachel Mellor was a co-champion of the competition.)​