Marlboro, N.J. resident Tony Corrao clinched the Ninth Annual Hoboken Sinatra Idol Contest this past Thursday night with a supersmooth rendition of “The Best is Yet to Come.” The Brooklyn-born technical analyst and professional singer earned a perfect score from the five-member panel of judges, featuring Sinatra’s second cousin Dale Monaco, local vocal coach Barbara Simon, and Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer.
“From when I was a very young boy, I listened to my mother play and sing all the songs Sinatra ever recorded from the ’40s on,” wrote Corrao in a short bio for the Idol contest. “I tried to sing along with him as I listened and was always amazed how effortlessly he produced that wonderful sound. His song choices, his style and his voice are embedded in my soul and have become a part of my life to this very day.”
Second place went to Marcqiese Rainey, who wowed the crowd with a charismatic rendition of “The Way You Look Tonight,” which he honed as a busker on the subway and in the streets of New York City.
Third place was earned by Newark resident and state intake investigator George N. Chartofillis, who sang “Luck Be a Lady.”
Sixteen contestants drawn from as far as Burnaby, British Columbia, and Genoa, Nevada participated in Thursday sing-off. The event was held in the DeBaun Auditorium at Stevens Institute of Technology, and was hosted by Hoboken Administrator of Cultural Affairs Geri Fallo and Gary Simpson.
Let’s be Frank!
