After the first night of Estevan Sings that host the junior competition, the senior competition left nothing left to desire on Tuesday night with the sheer talent that came to the stage to sing.

Ten singers, Doris Trobert, Janney Wilson, Jenna Fleck, Ocean Batke, Megan Zemlak, Kelsey Shier, Sarah Hodgson, Christina Dyck, Cole McCaskill, and Karissa Hoffart all came on stage to perform for the crowd, and every one of them wowed the crowd in their own way.

Starting with Trobert, she started a trend that persisted through the first round of the competition as she brought up her acoustic guitar when she sang her rendition of 'What's Up' by 4 Non Blondes, and it set the scene for the entire first round. Many agreed that she was the most complete all-around musician as her guitar playing, stage presence, and voice all flowed together in the song perfectly.

Next was Janney Wilson, another singer/guitar player who sang 'Fear' by Blue October. Wilson started her performance off very well but about halfway through, a strum of the guitar touched the wrong note. While the talent in her voice was clear, the guitar became a bit of a distraction for Wilson and some of the power in her voice started to falter. Once done, the crowd was elated to cheer her on for the brave performance.

Next to the stage was young Jenna Fleck. She was the first to come up to the stage without a guitar, and she went with a slow-moving ballad from Little Big Town, 'Girl Crush'. There was a slight falter and there at some of the higher notes, but the clear talent of the young woman was well on display throughout the entire performance.

Ocean Batke came up next with 'River' by Bishop Briggs, another slow-moving ballad but with less melody and more power to it, and putting the power into the back end of the chorus was no problem whatsoever for Batke.

Then we got a bit of a different flavour when Megan Zemlak came to the stage with her ukulele named 'Tim' after Tiny Tim. Ukulele songs are uncommon normally, but add in that she decided to cover popular P!nk song 'Try', and her play was well received by the crowd of hundreds.

Next was a local karaoke celebrity in Estevan, Kelsey Shier. She sang one of her favourites, 'Poor Poor Pitiful Me' by Terri Clark, and her voice was spectacular with it. The crowd was about ready to jump up and start two-stepping just like they do when she normally sings.

Then our own Sarah Hodgson got a chance to take her voice from the newsroom to the stage where she sang 'I Think We're Alone Now' by Birthday Massacre, a heavier sort of pop-metal if you will cover of the popular song by Tiffany from 1987. It was a refreshing take on the popular song that many know and love.

Next up was Christina Dyck who performed with her daughter happily looking on from the crowd as she brought her guitar to the stage and sang 'You Say' by Lauren Daigle. Her experience singing in church was clear to the judges before they even asked her after her performance as she had a natural harmony to it.

After that, Cole McCaskill was the only male in the field at the senior competition, with his version of 'Thunder Rolls' from Garth Brooks. He seemed to channel a little more of Chris Gaines, Garth Brooks' rock alter ego, with the performance, as he brought his electric guitar to rock the crowd with his own rendition.

Finally, we got a little country twang with our final performance, a slow song about a rough breakup, 'Stay' by Sugarland performed by Karissa Hoffart. Despite some of the serious tones of the song, it was clear how much fun the country singer was having on stage. 

After the first round, it was difficult to choose who would move on for the judges to see who would make it to the fan vote, but Doris Trobert, Megan Zemlak, Christina Dyck, and Karissa Hoffart, and the surprise for the final, Janney Wilson. After her struggles in the first performance, the judges saw something in her that the competition and the rest of the crowd didn't.

Boy did Janney deliver.

Her rendition of Kesha's 'Praying' was breathtaking, enough that it brought a tear to the eye of many in the audience, the judges, the 22-year-old man writing this story and host of the show, and afterward herself on stage. It was a truly emotional performance worthy of the top five, where she finished with an exact tie of the vote for fourth. 

Tied with Wilson in the fan vote was Megan Zemlak. She brought Tim the Ukulele out once again for another slower, serious song with 'Therapy' by All Time Low, and the crowd was in a hush listening to the sheer talent of the young woman once more.

In third place came Doris Trobert with a little country stuff this time around with Faith Hill's Mississippi, and once again the most complete artist at the contest had the crowd in her grasp.

That left just two left: the church singer Christina Dyck, and the frequenter of many different outlets around southeast Saskatchewan Karissa Hoffart.

Starting with Christina, she decided to trade her guitar for her child on stage, Layton. The adorable little girl wanted to join her mom on stage and get to look and see what her mom did while she was performing her heart out, and since Christina's voice again brought that perfect melody out to the crowd, it was all smile staring back at the pair on stage.

The other top two finalists, Karissa Hoffart, stayed with her country roots with 'Redneck Woman' by Gretchen Wilson to start off the second round, and the energetic singer picked the perfect energetic song to bump up the crowd. She used the entire stage to her advantage and you couldn't wipe the smile from her face if you tried, and she had that effect on the rest of the crowd.

The two took to center stage and waited nervously for the fan vote to come in, and when it did, Hoffart was victorious. She was beyond elated to learn that she won.

"Ever since I finished my nursing degree, I knew that nursing was my passion as well but singing was where my heart was, and so I have to pursue it."

The doors may have opened up for the Weyburn resident, originally from a little further west in Minton. One of the judges and popular Estevan singer with Hook and Nail Jeff Michel was ready to offer her some time in his studio before she even got on stage for her second performance, which was humbling to Karissa.

"The people, in general, giving me that spark to continue on with my passion, that's the main thing I get from this is that I'm never going to give up on my dream of being a singer/songwriter."

The 23-year-old was the runner up for Estevan Junior Idol in 2012.