FRACKVILLE - The three remaining contestants for the Schuylkill County Idol competition performed in front of about 75 people Tuesday night at the Schuylkill Mall.
"We enjoy the music and we like to see the young talent. It's nice to have something like this in the area. I think they're all talented," said Janice Keller, 60, of Barnesville.
Maura Gownley, 16, of Ashland, Elysha Bolschi, 19, of Shenandoah, and Heather Clevenger, 29, of Pine Grove, each sang three songs. The first song each contestant sang was one they chose, the second was a song from the classics and the third was picked by judges Monica Romberger, Kim Russell Seibert and Jeff Buchanan.
Before the contestants sang, Reiley Lonergan, 2012 Junior Idol winner, sang "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera.
Gownley was the first to let the audience hear her voice Tuesday.
Playing the keyboard, she sang "Fix You" by Coldplay. She would later sing "Eleanor Rigby" by the Beatles and "Lights" by Ellie Goulding. Gownley received kind words from the judges.
For her first song, Clevenger chose "I Can't Make You Love Me" by Bonnie Raitt.
Her other songs were "Open Arms" by Journey and "Fancy" by Reba McEntire.
The judges all praised her performance.
"You have such a soulful quality to your voice. Keep singing," Seibert said.
Bolschi chose "Jesus Take the Wheel" by Carrie Underwood as her first performance, with "Don't Stop Believin' " by Journey and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Judy Garland as her second and third performances.
"You got the crowd action going. They liked it ... nice job," Buchanan said.
Larry Levy, 62, of Frackville, and his wife, Charlene Levy, 60, were impressed. The three have "great talent," he said.
Elaine Maneval, mall manager, said she was impressed with the number of people who watched the event and the contestants.
Votes may be cast once a day at the customer service desk through Sunday. Identification, name and phone number are required. Those older than 6 years old are permitted to vote. Reading Phillies baseball tickets and movie passes were given away as prizes. Other prizes will be given away Monday.
The event is sponsored by Pepsi, the Frackville Rotary, Avalon, Verizon Wireless and Schuylkill Mall Theatres.
The winner will be announced at 6 p.m. July 30.