“Harvard Idol” contestant JUSTIN V. RODRIGUEZ ’07 sings “Under the Bridge” at Saturday’s competition.

Aspiring singers, dedicated fans and a “Simon” were all featured in Saturday night’s “Harvard Idol”—a takeoff on the hit Fox television show “American Idol.”

In an event organized by the Prefect Program for first-years, the audience in Science Center B chose Joshua M. Brener ’07, Kieran H. Shanahan ’07 and Amy M. Zelcer ’07 from a field of 10 contestants to move on to next week’s final round, in which the Harvard Idol will be selected.

Each of the finalists was given two to three minutes to sing along to instrumental covers that ranged from Zelcer’s rendition of the old jazz standard “You’d Be So Nice To Come Home to,” to the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s hit “Under the Bridge,” sung by Justin V. Rodriguez ’07.

A few hundred first-years braved the snow to see the spectacle, and several performers had their own cheering sections.

Rodriguez’s fans, who color-coordinated their red outfits, sat in the first row waving bright pink signs during his song. Supporters of Brener held up a banner reading “Jewish orgasmic sexy hunk” during his performance of Frank Sinatra’s “Almost Like Being in Love.”

The event was hosted by prefects John M. Barkett ’04 and Maura E. Boyce ’05, both of whom helped to plan the contest.

Boyce, who Barkett described as “one of the biggest American Idol fans I’ve ever met,” said she was “really impressed” by the students who tried out.

“Most of them are not in a cappella groups, so I think it’s kind of nice—the untapped resources,” she said of the 10 finalists.

In the spirit of the real “American Idol,” the three judges—Aliaa Remtilla ’05, Zachary D. Raynor ’05 and Daniel J. Zaccagnino ’05—commented on the contestants’ singing, dress and song choice in front of the crowd.

Remtilla, a VES concentrator, said before the show that she would be looking for the performers’ “unification of style—having their song match their singing style and how their style of singing matches their dress.”

Describing herself as a “Simon fan”—referring to the Fox show’s most merciless judge—Remtilla added that “I don’t think I have it in me to be mean.” But it was Raynor’s remarks that struck contestants and onlookers as Simonesque, and during the show one audience member even shouted “You suck Simon!” during one of his critiques.

“Okay, okay, if I’m going to be really honest with you, I was bored,” he told Chelsey J. Forbess ’07, who performed Celine Dion’s “Power of Love.”

His negative remarks were booed by the audience, and when he did actually give positive feedback to the contestants, the crowd applauded.

Remtilla played the Paula Abdul to Raynor’s Simon-like criticism of Forbess.

“I had goosebumps while you were singing. I thought it was amazing,” she said.