After three successful rounds of talented Brahma voices, only one student took the gold home for Diamond Bar High School’s Brahma Idol. Out of the 21 singers, junior Sophia Morookian won the competition, taking home the trophy with pride and joy. 

Brahma Idol is an annual singing-based competition inspired by the show “American Idol,” where contestants are chosen based on skill and inflection. Auditions were open to all Brahmas, as opposed to previous years when it was limited to only choir-affiliated students.  

There are three total rounds of Brahma Idol—The first part reviews submitted singing audition videos from contestants. In the second round, 21 semi-finalist competitors sang their audition songs live, and a panel of judges chose six contestants. Lastly, the third round showcases the final competitors, with the finalists voted on by the audience. 

“We were looking for overall the most well-crafted performance in terms of singing technique, presentation, and expression,” choir director Richard Langham said. “We each completed our personal picks for the top six contestants, compared notes, and discussed who should be the finalists from there.”

The judges of Brahma Idol included Sarah Schudfelt, who is the choir director at Diamond Ranch High School and Langham. For this final part of the competition, students performed their very best vocal skills to the judges, with the coveted opportunity to have their names enshrined on the Brahma Idol plaque hung in the choir room. 

“For the third round, we got to sing up to five minutes of a different song live for an audience. After all, six of us sang our songs [and] the audience voted for the winner by paper ballot,” Morookian said.

During the competition, Morookian chose different songs that complemented her voice, allowing her to show off her skills to the judges. The song she chose for the first and second rounds was “Lift Me Up” from the movie “Wakanda Forever.” In the third round, she sang “Colorblind” by Amber Riley. 

With songs in mind,  she was able to demonstrate her vocal skills, the songs were specifically chosen to make sure they matched her voice and how she sang. Not only does she show her skills but she also added some lines and melodies to make the songs sound original.

“Most of the preparation was choosing a song that fit my voice style and showed off my range,” she said. “After that, I started to try to add some originality with vocal runs and changing some of the notes.”