Grand Island's Scibilia named 'Buffalo Idol'

Story and photo by Joshua Maloni
Grand Island Dispatch, December 5, 2003
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, December 6, 2003

"Buffalo Idol" Marc Scibilia (seated) has picked up some musical pointers from Grand Island High School music teachers Carolyn Lokkan and Marty Allen.

It started on Columbus Day.

Just as the famed explorer went in search of new land, WKSE-FM, Kiss 98.5, began a search for Western New York's top musical talent. Hundreds of singers, if not more, spent seven hours auditioning for Kiss morning show hosts Janet Snyder, Nicholas Picholas and Wease. The field was narrowed down to 30 contestants, later joined by six wildcards, who competed live and on-air Monday mornings for six weeks. Six finalists were chosen, and they competed at the Boulevard Mall for the chance to become "Buffalo Idol."

Last Thursday morning, the winner was revealed. With 32 percent of the estimated 30,000 votes, Western New York has chosen Grand Island's Marc Scibilia as its new "idol." He will perform at the radio station's annual "Kissmas Bash" on Saturday, Dec. 13, at Buffalo's HSBC Arena.

"No way," an excited, and under-the-weather Scibilia said as his name was called. "Oh my gosh. Thank you so much."

First works

Scibilia, 17, a senior at Grand Island High School, first began performing at the age of 2. He wrote his first original piano composition when he was all of 6 years old. At 14, Scibilia recorded his first album, "Live at the Tralf," which featured five original piano pieces. In May, Scibilia won the "Amherst Idol" title.

"He has a lot of talent," said Anna Barone, a local music promoter and organizer. "He writes the most beautiful music."

Scibilia won week one of the Kiss semi-finals with 7,100 votes out of 12,200 cast (59 percent). He advanced on the strength of his rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “Overjoyed.” For his finals performance he sang "The Gift" by Jim Brickman.

"His music has great appeal to the youth of today," said Grand Island High School music teacher Carolyn Lokkan.

A close race

Kiss listeners logged on to www.kiss985.com to vote for the "Buffalo Idol." For the first six weeks, there was no limit to the number of votes a person could cast. For the final event, voting was limited to one per unique e-mail address. Snyder reported that, in a close race, Scibilia pulled ahead late Wednesday evening.

"It's sweet," Scibilia told the Dispatch shortly after winning. "They were all really good. I knew I was going to have to work extra hard if I wanted to win. I knew I was going to have to call a lot of people if I wanted to win, and get a lot of people to vote - especially close friends and family. I knew they (the other finalists) were from a lot bigger schools."

"I'm really excited about the whole thing," he added.

Scibilia's fellow finalists, Jessica Bain, Danielle Rae McKay, Kelly Warner, Ashley Kate Alaimo and Jennifer Waris, will sing a group song with him at "Kissmas Bash." Scibilia will then perform solo, showcasing his chops for the expected 13,000-plus in attendance.

Future works

In addition, Scibilia takes home $500 in Media Play cash, and the opportunity to work with Rich Sargant and Audio Magic in recording a demo CD, which Kiss will help create, promote and distribute. Scibilia will also perform the National Anthem at Saturday's Buffalo Sabres game.

Scibilia wants to be a complete artist, "not a mold of what someone else wants me to be," commendable at a time when pop stars are prepackaged as readily as Pop Tarts.

"I like doing Christian music, and I think that's what I'm going to end up doing."

• "Kissmas Bash" features the Barenaked Ladies, Stacie Orrico, Simple Plan, Chingy, Maroon 5 and more. The event is hosted by America’s favorite couple, Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey of MTV’s “Newlyweds,” and is once again sponsored by Niagara University.

• Janet and Nick are sponsoring "The World's Largest Toy Drive" for local families in need. Listen to Kiss for information on drop off donations, or stop by "Kissmas Bash" with your presents.