Encore Takes Eight-Vote Lead to 'Sing' Finals

Buffalo Grove's Encore group is apparently on its way to the finals in a national singing competition.

According to vote totals posted Thursday (Oct. 6) on the Sing! website, Encore placed first in the semi-finals, pulling ahead of Lake Zurich High School's Bare Voices group by just eight votes.

Encore received 3,855 online votes during a week-long period that ended Wednesday night. Bare Voices finished with 3,847 votes, according to the site, while the third semi-finalist, Midnight Blues, a jazz division of the Palatine High School concert choir, received 794 votes.

. The winning group will go on to compete in a national competition against choirs from 12 other regions in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

The grand-prize winner will be chosen by popular vote via text message and votes cast on the contest website, based on renditions of songs by Emmy Award-winning singer and songwriter Kevin Briody. (Click the video at right to hear Encore's performance of "Be Still.")

The winning choir will receive , $5,000 in gift cards and a private coaching session with Briody.

Voting for the grand-prize winner will run Oct. 17-31. Check back on Patch for details on how to cast votes.