The competition will be judged by Tim Chingos '08, Brittany Crosby '09 and Max Ross '11 as well as the professional actress and comedian Aisha Tyler '92. Shayla Mars '11 will host. A ten-piece band including professional horn and percussion musicians will accompany the vocalists.
The contestants have been practicing their performances, which includes both singing and dancing, since they first auditioned on Jan. 12 and 13.
The criteria for both the audience and judges' assessment of the contestants includes vocal ability, musicality and overall performance.
In the first round, the judges made the decision of who would move on; in the second round audience opinion counted for fifty percent; and the final round will be judged entirely based on audience feedback.
Since at the semi-finals on Jan. 27, when the top 16 contestants were narrowed down to six, the finalists have been preparing with producer Walter Cunningham and David Gilles '06, the co-producer, choreographer and vocal coach.
As vocal coach, Gilles found the contestants very receptive. He was glad when one of the semi-finalists said she wished Dartmouth Idol were a class because she was so grateful to have learned how to belt.
"You can learn great classical technique when you study voice at Dartmouth," Gilles said, "but no one's teaching popular music, how to produce that belt or produce a musical theatre sound. I pushed them out of their box. It's going to be fabulous."
Semi-finalist Kaitlyn Sheehan '09 agrees with Gilles that the competition offers students a chance to study music in a non-academic context, with fewer restraints than student groups usually encounter based on the availability of a capella arrangements.
"I don't think there are a lot of opportunities for people who love singing to sing popular music with a live band," she said. "A capella is a much larger time commitment for a different sound."
When I spoke to Sheehan on Saturday, the group was beginning its rehearsals for Dartmouth Idol's final round, learning the choreography and embarking on what she called "crunch week." At their sound check on Tuesday, the finalists rehearsed for the first time with the band.
Despite the pressure to learn the songs and choreography in time for the finals, the contestants have maintained high sprits.
"This hasn't felt like a competition," Sheehan said. "It's more like, 'isn't it nice that I get to perform in this great venue?'"
There are other positive aspects to the competition, besides the music, Gilles said, recalling the diversity panels he served on as a student.
"When we talked about diversity it was always one or two dimensions," he said.
Dartmouth Idol, though, has broadened the definition of diversity, he said, to include "white, black, Asian contestants, males, females and people from different training backgrounds -- both people who are interested in the arts and people who didn't know what the arts were until they got involved in Idol."
"I think that's the whole motivation behind Dartmouth Idol -- to produce diversity in more than one dimension," Gilles said.
He hopes that participating in Dartmouth Idol will encourage students who had previously only seen themselves going into the corporate world to consider looking into a career in the arts after graduation.
"Doing something like this makes them think 'my life could be like this, for at least like five years,'" Gilles said. "Maybe not in the forefront of their lives, but at least part of their lives."
Sheehan observed that the competition has brought together members of the different student performance groups.
"The singing groups on campus are disjointed," she said.
As a member of the Gospel Choir, Sheehan said she values her Dartmouth Idol experience as a "great way to get to know people in other singing groups."
Sheehan acknowledged that the participants, even as they compete against one another, have formed a well-natured camaraderie.
"It's been kind of like a bonding experience because we're all equally nervous," she said. "At this point we have a very talented group of singers. Everyone's just going to go out there and do their best, and whatever happens happens."