No doubt when Kate Maloney’s interviewed someday about the humble origins of her phenomenal singing career, she’ll cite winning the 2011 Oxford Idol contest as the beginning of her meteoric rise to fame.
‘I’ve never won anything before in my life, so it was a big deal,? said the Oxford High senior. ‘It really boosted my self-confidence.?
Maloney squared off against some stiff competition during this year’s Idol event, which was held Sept. 28 at the spacious OHS Performing Arts Center. She earned her crown by outperforming fellow finalists Gage Bolton and Ramilio Balde, plus earlier contestants Tyler Kwapis, Zach Throne, Natalie Nyland, Sean Hazen, Hunter Skikiewicz, Shelby Sands and Maddie Dickens.
Maloney wowed the judges and the audience with her renditions of Can’t Help Lovin? Dat Man (from the 1927 musical Show Boat), Girls Just Want to Have Fun (a 1983 pop music hit first sung by Cyndi Lauper), and Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again (from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera) .
She chose this eclectic mix because they ‘showcase? her range as a vocalist and she enjoys performing them. ‘They’re just a lot of fun to sing,? Maloney said. ‘I like the personality of each of them.?
Maloney traced her love of singing all the way back to the first grade.
‘Singing is definitely a release,? she said. ‘I feel very blessed to have had this talent given to me. It’s a way of expressing yourself. It’s everything.?
Maloney is a member of the OHS choir known as Caritas, the advanced women’s ensemble consisting of 15 talented vocalists.
A lover of musical theater, she played Sister Sophia and Winne Tate in the OHS productions of The Sound of Music and Annie Get Your Gun, respectively. For the OHS spring 2012 musical ‘Into the Woods,? she plans to audition for the role of Cinderella.
Maloney’s ultimate goal is to someday become a professional soloist who sings at well-known venues such as Carnegie Hall.
‘I never want to stop doing it because every time I perform, it’s just so much fun,? she noted. ‘It’s like an adrenaline rush.?
She’s hoping to further her musical education by attending a New York-based school such as Eastman School of Music, Ithaca College, Crane School of Music, or perhaps Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania.