By By Adrienne McKenzie
Dewayne “Dew” Pendleton of Jay, Fla., showed that he knows what being a star is all about when he walked away from PCI Gaming’s The Sound Star Search 2008 as the grand prizewinner Saturday night.
Pendleton not only won $5,000 for wooing the crowd and the judges at the Creek Entertainment Center, he also earned the opportunity to become a regular on The Sound stage.
Pendleton knocked out several competitors during the Star Search competition, held on Wednesday nights in January and February with one contestant eliminated each week. The semi-finals were held Feb. 29 with Pendleton competing against Kelton French of Molino, Fla. and Kristin Gronewold of Pensacola, Fla.
Pendleton and French were the two to move on to Saturday night to compete one-on-one against each other.
French chose a variety of music to sing Saturday including country hits “You Shouldn’t Kiss Me Like This” by Toby Keith and “T-R-O-U-B-L-E.” French even included a song by the Temptations: “My Girl.”
But, Pendleton won the hearts of the judges with his musical selections, including, “That’s the Way (I Like It),” “Drift Away” and “Anymore.”
Gronewold joined Pendleton Saturday night singing the country hit “Let’s Make Love” by Faith Hill and husband Tim McGraw.
Even though Pendleton took home the big bucks and the contract with PCI Gaming, Gronewold and French did not walk away empty-handed.
Gronewold, coming in as second runner-up, took home $1,000 and first runner-up French won $2,000.
Lee said she felt The Sound Star Search 2008 was a great idea.
This is the first year PCI Gaming has held the competition and Lee said she was happy with the number of competitors.
Lee said she thinks PCI Gaming will hold the event again in the future.
Pendleton could not be reached for comment at press time.