PICAYUNE — With a rousing rendition of Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl,” Keith Hoda and the Country Sound Band opened the Colgate Country Showdown Saturday night in what would turn out to be a night of some really great aspiring country singers, to others who could be good with a little more work, and still others that just need a lot more stage time.

In front of a crowd of a couple of hundred, many dressed to the nines with cowboy hats and boots, rhinestone shirts and Levis, contestants for the 28th annual Showdown took the stage one by one and entertained the audience and judges. Each performer sang two songs, which could be a cover song or their own original piece.

The judges for this year’s competition were Charlie Blanchard of Pearl River, Jennifer Drenning, Slidell, Joey Timmons, New Orleans, GenaLynn Lombard of Chalmette, and Gene Gunulfsen of Bogalusa. Each of the judges are active in the music industry from Lombard who won the Colgate Showdown three times locally and the state competition once, to Gunulfsen who worked on the Long Way Home project with Clarence Gatemouth Brown, to Blanchard, a guitar player with the band Walkiah.

After some friendly banter by local radio station WRJW DJ Roy Bunales and employee Denise Wilson, opening act, Chelsea Harrison from Pace, Florida, performed. “It is always hard drawing the number one spot,” said Wilson.

Harrison, wearing an Empire waist olive green dress with well-worn cowboy boots, told the audience she preferred to perform “different kinds of songs because I’m different.” She opened her act with “Different Breed” by Toby Keith and was backed by Keith Hoda & the Country Sound Band. Harrison then took a leap of faith and performed an acoustic piece featuring a Merle Haggard song.

As each singer took center stage, they each brought their own personality and presence to their performances, some clearly new to stage performing, others aware they needed to shine, but still struggling to find their comfort zones, and others who performed on stage like they had been born there.

One of those was first runner-up Kayla Woodson of Waggaman, LA. In a sleeveless tri-color dress and cowboy boots, and with a Patty Loveless appeal, she opened her act with “I’ll Stand By You.” Unlike many of the other performers, Woodson opted for no introductory small talk, instead going directly into her performance. Singing with a powerful voice, Woodson impressed the audience with her stage presence during her performance. When she was finished, they gave her a rousing applause.

Woodson also performed an acoustic piece, but this time it was a song she had penned herself. “This is an original song I wrote,” said Woodson. “It’s about a guy who leaves a girl, then realizes what he had and wants her back, but she’s moved on. The name of the song is “Moved On.”

While the song lyrics and melody were average, it was the passion and the way Woodson rooted herself in the song that impressed the audience. Many could be see moving their heads in rhythm and intently watching her performance. The audience, some of them standing, gave her a round of thunderous applause.

Using sound track’s, Poplarville resident Caitlen Lee performed “Coal Miner’s Daughter” and the Martina McBride song “When God Fearing Women Get the Blues.” While somewhat shy, her musical ability, stage presence, and charisma impressed both the audience and judges. Lee was chosen as fourth runner-up in the competition.

Showdown winners Jason Givens and Andy Martin of Pike Road, Alabama brought a uniqueness to their performance, wowing the judges and audience alike with their personality and talent. “They were very entertaining,” said Wilson. “They were very comical, but also very entertaining.”

Performing two original acoustic pieces with Givens on guitar and as lead vocalist and Martin on an African Tribal drum called a Djembe and singing harmony, the pair opened with “Old Country Song,” a tune about a boy losing the girl. They then said “let’s head to the beach,” and went right into their next performance — “Sand in My Guitar.”

“They went from a song about getting rid of the old girlfriend to ‘Let’s go to the beach,’ and went right into “Sand in My Guitar,” said Wilson. “Which is about going to the beach and having a good time, and waking up with sand in his guitar. It was pretty good and very entertaining.”

Jason & Andy, as they are known, will represent WRJW and Picayune as they advance to the state level on November 7 at the Sugar Shack in Leesville, LA. There they will compete for a $1000 prize and the opportunity to perform at one of five regional competitions in the fall.

If they win the regional competition, the duet will receive an all-expense paid trip to the National Finals where they will compete for a $100,000 grand prize. But, if, for any reason, Jason & Andy cannot compete at the state show, Woodson would advance to represent Picayune.

“We are proud to have such talent as Jason & Andy represent WRJW and Picayune on the state level,” said Delores Wood, general manager of WRJW Radio. “But I would like to see more local talent enter the Showdown each year. I know we have incredible talent and it would be really exciting to see a local Pearl River County artists advance to the state level.”