This past Saturday night, January 13, in front of a packed theater of friends, fans and family members, teens from around Teaneck gathered together to compete in the 16th “Teaneck Teen Idol” annual singing competition. The event was sponsored by the Teaneck Community Chorus and took place at Teaneck High School.

The Teaneck Teen Idol competition has been running for many years in the community but was halted during COVID. This is the contest’s first year back since the pandemic. One of the judges noted that this year was the “highest talent ever seen in the competition.” Previous winners from Teaneck Idol have even gone forward to compete on the renowned televised singing competition “The Voice.”

After initial tryouts on an earlier date, seven talented finalists from the community were chosen to compete. Six were students from Teaneck High School; Arielle Pfefer was the sole representative from Yeshivat Frisch. After each teen sang an initial song and received feedback from the judging panel, there was a brief intermission. During the second half of the competition, singers performed their second song and the audience was serenaded with a performance from previous Teaneck Teen Idol winner Victoria Woelfle.

At the end of the performances, both judges and audience votes were tallied and Arielle was crowned winner of this year’s competition. As first-place winner, she received the grand prize of $500, a large trophy and an opportunity to record music in a professional recording studio. Arielle said: “I feel so honored to have participated in Teaneck Teen Idol and performed among such talented singers. I am also truly inspired by the judges and this opportunity. I would like to continue singing and possibly publish some original songs one day so that I can inspire others.”