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Davidson Triumphs on Gimme the Mike! Finale
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Erica Davidson of Durham won the 2005 season of Gimme the Mike! |
The Triangle now has another potential superstar. On Wednesday, May 25, 2005, the judges chose Erica Davidson of Durham as the grand prize winner for the 2005 Verizon SuperPages Presents FOX 50’s Gimme the Mike! Davidson beat out four other judges’ choices from the season, and the audience’s Ultimate Wild Card Pick during the one-hour live finale.
The show came to the Triangle live from the BTI Center’s AJ Fletcher Opera Theatre in downtown Raleigh. Last year’s inaugural Gimme the Mike! winner, Jason Michael Carroll, wowed the crowd by kicking off the 7pm show with a crowd-pleasing country song, showing why he won the judges’ votes last season.
Gimme the Mike! host and WRAL-FM MIX 101.5 Personality Jim Kelly introduced the five named finalists and after their performances brought the Wild Cards to the stage. Live, he announced Lauren Wenick of Raleigh as the winner of the Ultimate Wild Card vote, and she took the stage as a finalist. Then the judges chose among the six performers to name Davidson as the overall winner.
Singer-songwriter and Triangle native Tift Merritt rocked the house with a cut from her Grammy-nominated album “Tambourine” before the announcement of the winner.
Davidson will now get a shot at fame with a free demo recording with Osceola Studios, she will perform on the second stage at Alltel Pavilion sometime this summer and will be flown to New York to audition for music industry executives.
If the past is any indication, Davidson can look forward to a bright musical future. Since winning last year, Jason Michael Carroll has been signed by management company Murphy to Manteo and has spent time in Nashville songwriting with big names Radney Foster, Tracy Byrd and Jeffrey Steele.
If you missed the show or want to relive some of the highlights, go to www.fox50.com to watch Davidson’s winning performance and the performances of Merritt and Carroll.
