2010 AtlantiCare Idol contest is all about ‘Me’
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP – A 20-year-old teachers assistant in the AtlantiCare Kids afterschool program has been named the 2010 AtlantiCare Idol.
Eliana Torres of Pleasantville won the title with her rendition of “Me” by Tamia at the fourth annual AtlantiCare Idol talent competition Thursday, Jan. 21 at the Stockton Performing Arts Center at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.
The event raised more than $4,100 for the United Way of Atlantic County.
Torres, who hopes to build on a singing career, wowed the audience and celebrity judges Chip Alton, stage and technical manager at Tropicana Casino & Resort; Jim Esher, regional technical manager of Harrah’s Entertainment; Fabio Orozco, orthopaedic surgeon at AtlantiCare’s Joint Institute; and Jason Spencer, regional director of entertainment for Harrah’s Entertainment.
Torres was one of 16 finalists selected to compete after auditions in December.
Her prize is a one-week paid vacation and a six-month membership to the AtlantiCare LifeCenter.
“I’ve been singing since I was 7,” Torres said Monday, Jan. 25. “I was so happy and excited when I won. It was my first time in the contest.”
Torres, who works with her mother Catalina Ramos at AtlantiCare Kids, said she has been working there about a year and a half.
“I love it a lot – working with the kids,” she said. “I sing to them. I sang to them today. And I like working with my mom. My mom’s the best.”
Torres said she practiced about a half-hour a day for a week prior to performing at Stockton.
“I worked on holding a mike, moving my hands and walking the stage,” she said.
A lifelong resident of southern New Jersey, Torres said she’s lived in Pleasantville for 10 years.
She said living in Pleasantville is OK, but . . .
“Not when I become famous,” Torres said. “I’m moving.”
She likes to sing at Planet Rose in the Tropicana, she added.
Second place went to the CCR Crew from AtlantiCare’s Cardiac Catheterization and Rhythm Center, Mainland Campus, who performed the original song “The Rhythm Rap.”
The CCR Crew consisted of Rosemarie Hayek of Mays Landing, Michael Stoffel of Manahawkin, Alonzo Smalls of Pleasantville, Victoria Balsley of Mays Landing, Barbara Cottrell of Somers Point, Lannae Ewing of Linwood, Marion Massimiano of Ventnor and Kelly McGinn of Ocean City.
Jessica Acosta of Galloway Township, a registered nurse in the Mainland Emergency Department who performed the Whitney Houston hit “One Moment In Time,” tied for third with Jackie Scaffidi of Hammonton, a patient care associate in Nursing Resources at the City Campus, who sang “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from the Barbara Streisand movie “Funny Girl.”
The evening included a performance by 2008 AtlantiCare Idol winner Sonya Love of Pleasantville from AtlantiCare’s legal department.
Song of Thanks(giving) Plus Eliana Torres, the Jersey Rhythm Devils, Mental Projections and more.
By Raymond Tyler
ATLANTIC CITY — We all have our favorite Christmas carols, Halloween songs, and others that are popular during certain holidays, but what about Thanksgiving?
Well, soon Pleasantville’s own Leonard Dozier will fill that void, as he has penned a new song called "This Thanksgiving."
Dozier and his team are currently shooting a music video for the song, which will soon be made available. I’ll keep you posted in this column space.
Meanwhile, Dozier is hard at work campaigning for the role of Earvin "Magic" Johnson in the new Broadway play Magic Johnson/Larry Bird. You can visit Dozier’s web site to find out how we can all help him land on Broadway.
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