WIESBADEN, Germany - The place where Mary Knudson put in hours of practice for her Operation Rising Star performance in Wiesbaden could not have been more appropriate.
Knudson, who sang Martina McBride's "In My Daughter's Eyes" and won the competition, said she sings the song almost every night to her daughter at bedtime. She has sung it to her hundreds of times, she said.
Knudson beat out six other contestants to win the competition and a $500 prize Sept. 21 at the Little Italy Restaurant and Catering Center. She now has a shot at winning the military-wide competition and receiving a professional recording contract, said Joseph Harris III, head of special events for Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation.
Audience votes counted for 50 percent of the contestants' final score, and the judges' scores also counted for 50 percent, Harris said. A total of 59 people from the audience voted. The judges were Kim Goins, and Spc. Fred Brown and Sgt. Stephen Counts from the American Forces Network-Wiesbaden.
Knudson, who lives in Heidelberg and competed last year but did not win, delivered a stunning professional-level performance with ease. "That was amazing. I'm just blown away," said Counts after her performance.
Brown said, "You are very natural on stage. It does sound like you've sung this song hundreds of times. It's the perfect song for you and you really owned it."
Knudson also had some stiff competition.
Vincent Rappa of Wiesbaden came in second and received a $250 prize. His acoustic version of "Livin' on a Prayer" by Jon Bon Jovi was a hit with the audience and brought on a huge round of applause. Rappa said he has been singing for most of his life.
"You did very well," said judge Brown. "Thank you for singing that."
DeShontea Jackson of Wiesbaden came in third and received a $100 prize. She sang "Hurt" by Christina Aguilera, and also did a great job impressing the audience and the judges. "It gave me chills from the beginning," said judge Goins.
Another contestant who did well was Carlos Collins, who came in fourth and sang "Hang On" by the Sounds of Blackness with the Tribe of Judah, a live band and choir that plays at the Clay Kaserne gospel service. "I decided if you're going to give God your best, you have to bring the best," he said.
Collins said he chose the song partially because it was Suicide Prevention Month. "This song says, 'Hold on, you're going to make it,'" he said.
When Collins was finished singing, all three judges used the word "great" to describe his performance. "You're very comfortable on stage," added Counts.
Contestants had to be members of the military - active, National Guard or reserve - or a family member, according to the contest rules. They also had to be more than 18 years old and strictly amateur.
The competition is modeled after the popular "American Idol" television show, and by the end of the competition, Counts had earned himself the nickname "Simon" for his frank (but never mean) assessments of the contestants' performances. Simon Cowell is a former "American Idol" judge known for being critical of contestants' performances.
The first round of the competition was a cappella, but during the final event contestants had background music. They also received a significant amount of cheering from the audience, thanks in part to an award that gave $300 to the organization that provided the most spirit during the competition. The Wiesbaden Community Spouses Club won hands down.
The 2012 military-wide Operation Rising Star Finals will be held in San Antonio, Texas, and will be broadcast on the Pentagon Channel. Visit www.armymwr.com and click on the entertainment tab to find the link to Operation Rising Star for details.
Last year, Sgt. Melissa Neal of Ansbach won the competition.
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