PRESQUE ISLE – Last year, officials at the United Way of Aroostook secured a “three-peat” after a third successful year of hosting the popular Aroostook Idol competition.

Officials with the UWA are confident that the generosity of Aroostook County residents who have supported the show will continue in 2008, and organizers behind the vocal competition are now sketching out their blueprint for the fourth annual Aroostook Idol contest.

The show serves as a fundraiser for the UWA and is the local spin-off of the Fox TV show “American Idol.”

Money raised from the event goes toward the annual campaign to support local agencies working to help the most needy people throughout The County.

Last year, the event raised more than $32,000. In the two years before that, the contest garnered more than $63,000 for the agency.

Once again, next year’s show will feature three regional sing-offs in Aroostook County, one each in Houlton, Presque Isle and Fort Kent.

The Houlton show will have vocalists squaring off starting at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, at the Houlton High School auditorium.

That event is open to all contestants from southern Aroostook County.

The Presque Isle show, which is open to residents of central Aroostook, will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 8, at the Presque Isle Middle School.

The final show for northern Aroostook participants in Fort Kent will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15, at the Fox Auditorium on the University of Maine at Fort Kent campus.

The show is set up to have four judges on stage who give their opinions of the performances, and then the audience selects the top three performers of the evening.

The winners of each show will then move on to a final production that will be held Sunday, March 2, at the Caribou Performing Arts Center. The winner of that event will be crowned the new Aroostook Idol.

The UWA is looking for participants age 13 and up from Allagash to Benedicta to take part in the competition. Both new contestants and individuals competing in past competitions, with the exception of the past overall winners, are eligible to compete.

Admission to each regional production will be $8 and admission to the finale will be $10. All proceeds from funds raised at the door will go directly to the UWA’s annual campaign.

Contest applications can be picked up at any KeyBank branch in Aroostook County.

The application also can be found at the United Way of Aroostook’s Web site at www.unitedwayaroostook.org.

jlbdn@ainop.com

532-9257