Duo Kate and Isaac win 'Acappella and Unplugged'
CHAMBERSBURG - Kate Brookes and Isaac Stitely's performance of the John Legend/Megan Trainor duet "Like I'm Gonna Lose You" won them the grand prize in the second annual "Acappella and Unplugged" contest.
Known as the duo Kate and Isaac, the champions showed all of Chambersburg why they took first place, showcasing their talents in a performance that began this year's reenactment of the Burning of Chambersburg on Saturday night.
Brookes and Stitely also won the $500 prize for their rendition of the hit song.
"It's a cute love song," Brookes said.
"It fits our voices well and and explains our story really well," Stitely added.
The couple have been together for two and a half years both professionally and personally, since meeting through a mutual interest in music and friends. Stitely said they heard about the event on the radio and decided to take a chance and see what happened.
"We thought why not? We've never done any competitions before," Stitely said. "We're excited to try our first ballad."
The duo performed "Like I'm Gonna Lose You" for the entire run of the contest, which started with auditions over the first two days of June. After making it in to the first round, the duo went on to be one of the six semi-finalists to make it into the round for public voting. They were chosen to be among the three finalists who performed Saturday evening, from which the winner would be chosen via in-person votes and Facebook votes.
They had to wait for over an hour before the results were tallied and announced to the crowd, which was difficult as any of the three acts could have won. Both Stitely and Brookes were giving credit to their fellow competitors and admitting that it was "down to the wire" before the announcement.
Once they had heard they had won, excitement and pure joy were the emotions they were feeling as they were presented with the check and accolades. They beat out the group Country Bumpkins, made up of Emily and Ben Thompson, Hannah Lowman and Jason Ankerbrand, and the duo Admiral Mouse, comprising Preston Greene and Noah Steinfeldt, to take home top honors and the $500 prize.
"We want to say thank you to everyone who voted for us," Brookes said.
When asked what they were going to do with the money, Stitely had a quick, simple response.
"Save it," he said.
David Barr, 717-881-7020