Michael Smith sings during the finals of the 2014 Ole Miss Idol on March, 5, 2014. (Alex Edwards/The Daily Mississippian)
The tenth year of Ole Miss Idol ended Wednesday with sophomore English major Michael Smith being named the winner amongst five other finalists.
Smith won the $500 grand prize in a sing-off with junior liberal arts major Justine Ibale in the food court of the Student Union.
Competitive singing is nothing new to Smith, who appeared on the popular television show American Idol and was among the final 48 contestants in Hollywood.
Smith said he made it to the finals of Ole Miss Idol using his previous Idol experience.
“I feel really happy, and it’s nice to have a little more financial stability,” Smith, a native of Lumberton, said after winning Wednesday night. “I love to sing, so even if there was no prize I still would have done it.”
In the final round, Smith sang “Heart Attack” by Trey Songz while Ibale sang “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion.
Smith originally intended to sing “Breakeven” by The Script but said there was an “unforeseen roadblock.”
“The ‘Breakeven’ track wasn’t working. So we changed ‘So Sick’ to the first track,” Smith said after the contest Wednesday. “I hadn’t practiced ‘Heart Attack’ in months.”
Even the recording of “Heart Attack,” the song Smith won the sing-off with, proved to be problematic when the volume on the speakers malfunctioned.
“It was a challenge,” he said, “When the instrumental didn’t come through as clear as I expected it to, it kind of threw me off, but I don’t believe in excuses. Do what you can with what you got.”
Smith’s mom is a choir show director, so Smith has received vocal instruction almost all his life.
“It was a lot of ‘That was terrible. Do that again,’” he said. “She’s very straightforward with you, and it’s very good to have. Not somebody who says, ‘Oh, you’re so awesome,’ all the time. Don’t get me wrong, she encourages me where she should, but she pulls me down when she needs to.”
