Annual Teen Star Musical Competition
Journey Bank's Teen Star
Journey Bank is the proud sponsor of this annual competition. The Teen Star Musical Competition is a fun way for us to support our local youth, the performing arts, and area schools. Since debuting in 2011, hundreds of local high school students have courageously and confidently auditioned before our judges in hopes of advancing to the finale and winning the top prize of $2,000! Over the past 12 years, we've awarded $65,000 in prize money to finalists and donated over $47,000 in ticket proceeds to the music departments at our finalists' high schools.
Local high school students register for Teen Star and participate in closed auditions with a panel of independent judges from the music industry.
The judges choose 12 finalists to compete LIVE, on-stage at Mitrani Hall, Haas Center for the Arts at Bloomsburg University. Our expert judges, a cheering audience, and professional stage crew all combine to make for an incredible experience!
The top 12 finalists perform and are critiqued by our judges. Our judges then choose the Top 3 finalists and an audience save to perform one final time.
First place prize is $2,000! The second, third and fourth place finishers win $1,000, $750, and $350.
Congratulations to our 2023 Teen Star, Lauren Baker!
Our 2023 show was the first ever themed Teen Star finale - we rocked out to an 80's theme, where finalists performed hits from the iconic 80's era.
Lauren is an upcoming senior from Bloomsburg Area High School. She is truly a rockstar as rock-and-roll 80's music is her favorite genre to perform. She stole the hearts of the audience and judge's hearts with her first performance of Separate Ways by Journey and sealed the deal with her second performance of You Make My Dreams by Hall & Oats.
Emily Shapeero-Sophmore, Central Columbia High School
This was Emily's second year as a Teen Star Finalist. Her emotionally driven performance of The Winner Takes It All by ABBA landed her a spot in our top 4 this year. She followed up by singing Alone by Heart to land her 2nd place spot in our finale.
Jera Strony-Junior, Danville Area High School
Jera lit up the stage with a Broadway touch as she performed Memory from the musical Cats. She then took the top-hit route with her second performance of These Dreams by Heart, exemplifying her ability to sing tunes from two 80's genres.
Jaden Nguyen-Sophomore, Bloomsburg Area High School
Jaden's fun loving performance of Part of Your World from the Little Mermaid stole the hearts of our audience, so much so that he was selected as the winner of the audience save portion of our event. He followed up with an outstanding performance of Hold Me Now by The Thompson Twins.
Alasia Gaines
Sophomore, 21st Century Charter School/Southern Columbia School District
Alasia transported us into the musical Les Misérables with her beautiful performance of On My Own.
Alasia Gaines
Sophomore, 21st Century Charter School/Southern Columbia School District
Alasia transported us into the musical Les Misérables with her beautiful performance of On My Own.
Caroline Decker
Freshman, Bloomsburg Area High School
As our first contestant to take the stage, Caroline lit up the crowd with her performance of Gloria by Laura Branigan!
Caroline Decker
Freshman, Bloomsburg Area High School
As our first contestant to take the stage, Caroline lit up the crowd with her performance of Gloria by Laura Branigan!
Haweo Villiarimo
Senior, Central Columbia High School
Haweo gave us some serious Whitney energy with her performance of I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston!
Haweo Villiarimo
Senior, Central Columbia High School
Haweo gave us some serious Whitney energy with her performance of I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston!
Jack Kendron
Sophomore, Berwick Area High School
Our audience enjoyed a "Rick-Roll" with Jack's performance of Never Gonna Give You Up.
Jack Kendron
Sophomore, Berwick Area High School
Our audience enjoyed a "Rick-Roll" with Jack's performance of Never Gonna Give You Up.
Lindsay Pensyl
Senior, Central Columbia High School
Lindsay paid tribute to Whitney Houston as she sang One Moment in Time.
Lindsay Pensyl
Senior, Central Columbia High School
Lindsay paid tribute to Whitney Houston as she sang One Moment in Time.
Morgan Smith
Sophomore, Berwick Area High School
Morgan charmed us with her performance of Power Of Love by Laura Branigan-and her sparkly dress and heels!
Morgan Smith
Sophomore, Berwick Area High School
Morgan charmed us with her performance of Power Of Love by Laura Branigan-and her sparkly dress and heels!
Regan Welch
Senior, Berwick Area High School
Regan ROCKED the stage with her performance of Juke Box Hero by Foreigner.
Regan Welch
Senior, Berwick Area High School
Regan ROCKED the stage with her performance of Juke Box Hero by Foreigner.
Shaye Trivelpiece
Sophomore, Bloomsburg Area High School
Shaye gave a powerful performance of Strangers of the Heart by Heart while rocking her awesome 80's trench coat.
Shaye Trivelpiece
Sophomore, Bloomsburg Area High School
Shaye gave a powerful performance of Strangers of the Heart by Heart while rocking her awesome 80's trench coat.
Our Finalists ROCKED The Stage!
Shoutout to our emcee, Allie Diehl
Teen Star welcomed back Ms. Allison Diehl as our show’s emcee. Allison stepped up to emcee last year, replacing longtime host and friend, Doug Farley. She is the daughter of our bank's Executive Chairman and has had a behind the curtain view of Teen Star every year since its inception in 2011, when she was just seven years old! So she knows the competition inside and out. While she doesn’t sing competitively, Allison has a lovely voice and enjoys the performing arts—plus she is no stranger to the stage, as she was crowned Miss Pennsylvania State Laurel Queen in 2019.
