The following is a brief of the story. For the full version, see the Friday, Oct. 10 print edition of the BDN Extra!

The three judges of Thursday night’s karaoke contest were sweating it out as they critiqued the finalists in both youth and adult divisions. The contest was held as part of Boonville’s annual Festival of Lights; each finalist had won a prior round of competition.

Eleven-year-old Austin Andrews took top honors in the youth division, crooning First Date by Blink 182. He edged out Hunter Collyott, 9, of New Franklin and Payton Kempf, 8, of Pilot Grove. Collyott, a fan of fellow New Franklinite Sara Evans, took second place with Evans’ A Real Fine Place to Start. Kempf, obviously comfortable in front of an audience, strutted her stuff while singing Mean Girls by Sugarland.