Winning singers

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Top, from left: High school winners Caitlyn Connors (1st place), Ren Martinez (2nd place) and Julia Wisniki (3rd place). Above, from left: Middle school winners Hailey Hoffman (1st place), Martha Thatcher (2nd place tie) and Ellery Smoller (3rd place). Not pictured: Jade Bates, who tied for 2nd place.

The Annual Malibu Rotary Club Middle and High School Singing Competition was held April 20 on the stage of the Malibu High School Auditorium. Members of the Malibu Rotary Club voted on the performances given by a dozen of Malibu High School Choral Director Amy Loch’s students. Annually, a total of $1,000 in cash prizes is awarded to the top three winners in the middle school division as well as the top three winners in the high school division. The votes are quickly counted and awards given the night of the event.

The winners in the high school division were Caitlyn Conners, who sang “A Summer in Ohio;” Ren Martinez, who sang “Nearness of You;” and Julia Wisnicki, who sang “Gravity.”

The original winners in the middle school division were Hailey Hoffman, who sang “I Enjoy Being A Girl;” Martha Thatcher, who sang “Blue Hair;” and Ellery Smoller, who sang “I Speak Six Languages.”

Geoff Ortiz chaired the event for the Malibu Rotary Club and was emcee of the program. He later audited the results of the singing competition and discovered an error in reporting the second place winner in the Middle School Division of the event. The audit showed that Jade Bates, who sang “Vanilla Ice Cream,” was actually tied for second in her division of the event and was later sent an additional second place cash prize, so the middle school division actually had four prize winners.

Joellen McNaughton accompanied all students on piano.