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Idol talents need not idle

Young people in Midtown will gain a stage and an audience Saturday.

By JON WILSON
Published March 11, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - Sandra Harrell's dream, born a year ago as she sipped lemonade on a front porch, has emerged with flesh, bones and the energetic sound of youngsters making music.

Ready to go is Midtown Idol Showcase, which Harrell, a mother of five and grandmother of 10, envisioned as a positive mode of youthful expression.

The talent show, expected to show off about 40 youngsters involved in 20 acts, starts at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Wildwood Recreation Center. Harrell said to expect a three-hour show.

The master of ceremonies is Rashad "Shadcore" Harrell, Sandra Harrell's cousin, a freestyle rapper who has won a few contests of his own and drawn praise from such rappers as Chuck D of Public Enemy.

Midtown Idol isn't expected to be all about the art of the spoken word, though; nor is the show a last-minute event.

Singers, dancers and instrumental musicians have been practicing diverse numbers in formal rehearsals. Local singer and songwriter Ellis Poole has been coaching. Last week, he showed the kids how not to do it with an exaggerated version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

At a recent practice, a young woman sang And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going from the movie Dreamgirls.

"It was so exciting! You felt it," Sandra Harrell said.

Two other girls are performing an original number, "kind of a country song," Harrell said.

"They were so good because they wrote their song from scratch. It's their song," she said.

Harrell, a Times employee in the circulation department, readily acknowledges that she has had a lot of help organizing the show - "a chain of people," she calls what has amounted to her informal staff.

But her own perseverance has made it happen. She made countless phone calls - and personal calls - to city recreation officials, to reporters, to people like Eric Green of Everyone's Youth United, who has shared his talent show expertise.

She got people to do marketing posters. She had fliers printed. Recently, she has been lining up stylists and barbers in case the kids need a trim.

"Something you love, you don't get tired," she said.

Harrell grew up in a close-knit neighborhood on Fairfield Avenue S, where, on weekend nights, her family held fish fries and danced. She knows what it means for people to look out for one another. She sees Midtown Idol as a way of doing that.

She said she won't be cutting any steps on Saturday.

"I'm going to be behind the stage," she said. "I'm going to be a cheerleader."

If you go

Midtown Idol Showcase

What: A youth talent show

When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Wildwood Recreation Center, 1000 28th St. S

Admission: $2 for kids 5-12; $5 for 13 and up

[Last modified March 10, 2007, 20:49:00]