Madeline wins vote
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on December 14, 2006 1:45 PM
Madeline Edwards, 11, a sixth-grade student at Eastern Wayne Middle School, has won the second round of the CBS Early Show's "Living Room ... Live!" talent contest with 75 percent of the online votes.
Madeline, the daughter of Michael and Kelli Edwards of Goldsboro, sang "O Mio Babbino Caro," from an opera by Puccini.
Her competitors were Sabrina Lentini, 8, of Tustin, Calif., who sang "Amazing Grace," and Kristin Martin, 16, of Suffield, Conn., who sang "Panis Angelicus."
The win means Madeline will return for the first finalists' round, according to the CBS News Web site, where she will face other first-round winners.
Last week's winner was the teenage band, Stuck on Stupid, which won with 39 percent of the votes cast.
Comments posted online today on the Web site ranged from high praise for her talent to questions about whether she was lip-synching. Madeline's voice is so mature for such a young singer that some viewers questioned whether it was really her singing.
Her father said this morning he learned of her win just like everyone else, by tuning in to the TV show. Madeline was at school, he said, where the announcement was made over the intercom to the delight of the student body.
Edwards said he was unsure of the next step in the competition, adding that he was not sure how long the contest would last and how the weekly winners would compete.
The competition is based on videos submitted by contestants and Edwards said he does not expect Madeline to make any New York trips unless she reaches the final stages of the competition.
He said he and his family wanted to thank all of the viewers who went online to vote for Madeline.
"Everybody has been so supportive," he said.