Arts & Culture StarQuest is Back September 26, 27! The Taste of Soul competition is ready to give another chance at stardom
September 17, 2015
By Brian W. Carter
StarQuest Auditions are set to kickoff at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza on the Macy’s Bridge Saturday, Sept. 26, from 10am-6pm and Sunday, Sept. 27, from 1pm-5pm. The local contest turns four this year and continues to be a hub of talent for the South L.A. area. Finalists who make it past the initial auditions go on to perform on the TOS StarQuest Stage and perform for TOS Nation, which stands now over 350,000 people.
In 2012, StarQuest debuted at the 7th Annual TOS Festival, a created by the Los Angeles Sentinel and Bakewell Media. The first StarQuest resulted in 12 semi-finalists, who were chosen to perform on the StarQuest stage during the festival. In 2013, StarQuest added a kid’s competition to give youth a chance at stardom. The StarQuest 4 Kids competition featured youth ages 5-17 in addition to the adult competition.
In 2014, Mothership was the winner of the adult competition and Tim Jr. won the kids competition. As a result, StarQuest winners have been put on a path of success as a result of the competition. Many are performing at multiple venues and some have already released music.
Some of the judges in past StarQuest have included executive producer, Tony Cornelius, son of the legendary Don Cornelius creator of “Soul Train,” Yvette Bailey (former “Soul Train” producer), talent executive and Rayva Harrell (Nickelodeon’s “All That,” “The Steve Harvey Morning Show”). Harrell passed away recently but her contributions to StarQuest and the entertainment industry will always be remembered. In 2014, StarQuest welcomed a host of celebrities as judges which included Michelle Williams, Deitrick Haddon, Tamala Jones, Rickey Minor, Peter Wise, Judge Mablean Sandy Christmas, David Lombard, Willie Norwood and Howard Hewett.
Auditions will take place at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza at the Macy’s Bridge. Adult auditions (Ages 18 and up) take place on Saturday, Sept. 26, from 10am-6pm. Kids auditions (Ages 5-17) take place on Sunday, Sept. 27, from 1pm-5pm.
You can perform A Cappella or bring your musical track on a CD, iPod or Flash Drive.
Finalists will be notified on October 1st.
For more information go to, www.TasteOfSoulLA.org or www. lasentinal.net. Follow Taste of Soul on Facebook and Twitter @tasteofsoulla.