Students who walked through the HUB-Robeson Center at this time last April will probably recall witnessing some pretty amusing head to head rap battles. The defunct Blue and White Rapper Contest has this year been replaced with the Penn State Idol Competition, for which voting began on Monday.

After reviewing all of the entries, a group of judges chose the sixteen best performers for the student population to vote on. Students interested in participating in the voting aspect of the contest can find the performers’ auditions here.

Students have the opportunity to vote on their favorite prospective idols online until 4 p.m. on Friday, April 16.

The eight performers who receive the most votes will move on to the second round of the competition, which is comprised of four head to head competitions running April 19-22. All of these match ups will be held in the HUB at noon.

On Friday, April 23, the final four singers will compete during the Blue and White Carnival outside of Beaver Stadium.

The student chosen as Penn State’s first Idol will win a $300 cash prize, one free Domino’s pizza per week for a year and the free use of textbooks from the Penn State Bookstore for the upcoming fall semester; graduating seniors will receive a $300 gift card to the bookstore instead.

Don’t forget to get out there and vote–let your voice be heard in Penn State’s first Idol competition!

[Pic]