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Who will win the 16th annual RichCity Idol on Wednesday?

The 16 th annual RichCity Idol talent contest will take centre stage at the Gateway Theatre on Wednesday.
RichCity Idol
This year's RichCity Idol finalists, chosen from each of Richmond's 10 secondary schools. Phots submitted

The 16th annual RichCity Idol talent contest will take centre stage at the Gateway Theatre on Wednesday.

Ten singing idols, chosen by teachers and students at each of Richmond’s 10 secondary schools, will compete in front of a panel of judges, before receiving votes from the 500-strong audience.

RichCity Idol was started in 2004 by Richmond high school students Natasha Jung and Martin Hui and following students have continued the tradition of organizing and hosted the event ever since.

“Each student council organizes its own idol contest and then they go through auditions, semi-finals and finals etc.,” explained Steveston-London student Jesse Hsieh, lead producer of this year’s RichCity Idol.

“Some have the school teachers get involved, with a public vote at the end to choose the winner.”

There is no age limit on the contest, other than being at high school, but there is a distinct emphasis this year on youth, with some as young as Grade 8.

On Wednesday evening, the judges – songwriter/producer Troy Samson, pianist/composer/producer Trevor Hoffmann and YouTuber Jennifer Zhang – will choose the top five idols, before the audience joins in to pick the winner.

The top prize at stake, as well as the kudos of winning, is a video-recording package at Blue Light Studios in Vancouver.

“We begin planning for this in September,” added Hsieh, noting RichCity Idol takes 11 executive members and 40 volunteers to make it happen.

Tickets for RichCity Idol are $12 right now here and are $15 on the day at the door.

You can buy tickets online at RichCityIdol.com/Tickets.

Click here to see the full list of this year's idols.