Windy City Gay Idol Finals Set for Mayne Stage on 6/26

Windy City Gay Idol, now in its 11th year, marches to the finals in search of the best amateur LGBTQ or allied singer in the Chicago area. The finals will be at Mayne Stage, 1328 W. Morse, Wednesday, June 26.

After more than a decade, Windy City Gay Idol has grown into the largest and most highly anticipated competition in Chicago's LGBTQ community. The Grand Finale is held during Gay Pride Week. VIP tickets go on pre-sale Thursday, June 6, 9 a.m. for $20, while they last, and General Admission tickets for $10 go on sale Thursday, June 20, 9 a.m. All tickets may be purchased at http://www.maynestage.com/gayidol (link will be live at 9am Thursday, June 6th) or in person at the Mayne Stage box office.

Past Windy City Gay Idol winners have gone on to sing at Wrigley Field, Soldier Field, Allstate Arena, Market Days and at festivals around Illinois, Milwaukee, Toronto and Vancouver. In addition, the 2012 Windy City Gay Idol Finalist Josh "JDA" Davilla landed in the Top 40 on Fox's American Idol 2013. Plus the 2008 Windy City Gay Idol Finals featured a then-unknown Lady Gaga as a guest performer. Audiences never know what they will see and hear at the Windy City Gay Idol Finals.

Windy City Gay Idol, produced by Windy City Media Group, holds the semi-final competition on Saturday, June 15 at Sidetrack, 3349 N. Halsted, after months of competitions throughout Chicago's bars and clubs. All Windy City Gay Idol 2013 results from preliminary, semi-final and the final events come from audience votes.

Windy City Gay Idol's new 2013 finals venue is the gorgeous Mayne Stage in the Rogers Park neighborhood. This will be an amazing night of entertainment, with Chicago's best singers vying for the title of Windy City Gay Idol in front of a packed house and a panel of guest judges.

Plus the concert will feature guest performers including Tony Award-winner Levi Kreis, who will debut his new CD, Imagine Paradise. Kreis, who is openly gay, won the Tony in 2011 for his powerful portrayal of Jerry Lee Lewis in the Chicago and Broadway smash hit, Million Dollar Quartet. Openly gay Chicago-area native De'Borah, who came close to winning with mentor Christina Aguilera's help on the 2012 season on TV's The Voice, will also perform at the contest, as will 2013 American Idol hopeful JDA who wowed audiences with his androgyny, vocal talent and unique style.

Guest judges will be Levi Kreiss, JDA, and Mickie Paskal and Jennifer Rudnicke of PR Casting. For 20 years, PR Casting has been working in both film and television, most recently casting Showtime's Shameless and NBC's Chicago Fire as well as the feature, Transformers 3.

Both Semi-finals and Finals will be hosted by Amy Matheny and Sofia Saffire.

The 2013 Windy City Gay Idol Premium sponsor is Smirnoff. Other Sponsors include Ketel One, Tanqueray, Don Julio, Creaoke, Broadway in Chicago, American Airlines, SpeedPro Printing, Tourism Toronto, Ravinia, AIDS Foundation of Chicago and Fields Mini of Chicago.

Every audience member at the Finals and Semi-finals will get a ballot to vote and be entered to win all prizes including Smirnoff merchandise, vacation trips and tickets to top Chicago theaters and shows. PLUS someone in the audience at both events will win a Trip for Two to Toronto courtesy of Tourism Toronto and American Airlines.

The finals winner crowned at Mayne Stage is awarded a prize package worth more than $5,000 including $1,000 in cash, a 5-day/4-night trip to Toronto, Smirnoff gifts, theater and concert tickets, plus the coveted title of Windy City Gay Idol 2013.

VIP tickets for FINALS are on sale Thursday, June 6, 9 a.m. for $20. Ticket includes: Ballot to vote, entry to win prizes including trip to Toronto, a reserved seat, table side food / beverage service and access to both the downstairs bar for the General Public and the upstairs VIP bar. The $10 General Admission tickets go on sale Thursday, June 20, 9 a.m. and include a ballot to vote and entry to win all prizes.

Windy City Gay Idol 2013 Semi-Finals and Finals :
Saturday, June 15: SEMI-FINALS, Sidetrack, 3349 N. Halsted, 2pm doors, 3pm start
Wednesday, June 26: FINALS, Mayne Stage, 1328 W Morse, 6pm doors, 7pm start.

Complete rules and regulations at www.WindyCityMediaGroup.com

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