The Rising Star vocal competition wrapped up its preliminary round on June 13 with four singers advancing to the semi-final round, which takes place this Friday evening, June 27, at the Rhine Hall Event Venue, 507 N. Union St.

Promising vocalists Sierra Mack, J’Lan Stewart, Elijah Alexander, and Kaylee Janssen advanced during the competition in front of a packed house at Rhine Hall. Celebrity judges Bree Bragg of the Kokomo Post, Kenny Beasley from WWKI, and Sami Soutar-Lightsey of Rhum Academy of Music deliberated for an extended amount of time, as the competition proved to be very close among the seven singers who competed.

The trio all are experienced vocalists and instructors, and each gave pointers, praise, and a little bit of constructive criticism during the competition. They selected four finalists from the group, and the audience also had an opportunity to choose their favorite performer by donating a dollar per vote, all of which was given to Rhum Academy of Music as a fundraiser for its Legacy Fund, which defrays costs for talented students who may not be able to afford musical training otherwise.

In the June 13 competition, Kaylee Janssen won the People’s Choice Award. She received one-on-one coaching, as did Mackenzie Bashore, who won People’s Choice in the first round of Rising Star competition on May 30.

The field is now set for the semi-final round on June 27. Mack, Stewart, Alexander, and Janssen will join first round winners Amos Greene, Mackenzie Bashore, Shayden Smith, Lucy Featherston, and Mar’Koya Kendrick on the stage at Rhine Hall.

Bashore and Kendrick automatically will advance to the finals, set for Fri., July 18, by virtue of their People’s Choice selections. And the audience will have the chance to advance yet another People’s Choice winner to the finals on June 27. The rest of the performers will have to impress the celebrity judges on the stage to possibly become Kokomo’s next Rising Star.

Doors open at 7 p.m. this Friday night, and the show begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 each and are available in advance by visiting www.rhinehallevents.com, or can be purchased at the door on the evening of the event.

Concessions, including a full bar, soda, water, and snacks, as well as Andy’s Pizza by the slice, will be available throughout the evening.