By Hannah Mason, Assistant Editor

 Congratulations to the 2015 West Liberty Idol champion, Morgan Wagner! Wagner, a senior Community Education major from Colliers, West Virginia, was crowned at the West Lib Idol finale on Tuesday, Feb. 24 in the College Union.

The three finalists—Morgan Wagner, second place winner AJ Holden, and third place winner Zarek Wiley—performed two songs each during the final night of the competition, one as a solo performance and one a duet with a returning competitor from the previous week.

Wagner shined on the final night right off the bat with her flawless duet performance of Maroon 5’s “She Will Be Loved” as a duet with Hannah Walters. Wagner’s solo performance of “Hold On, We’re Going Home” by Drake, performed with accompanying guitarist Shreni Rajbhandari, cemented her first place win, filling the Union Ballroom with not only a powerful vocal performance but also a whole room-full of student fans.

 “I got to be on stage with two of my best friends and perform, and there is nothing better than that!” Wagner said. Throughout the four weeks of the competition, all the competitors displayed an amazing amount of talent, showmanship, and growth in confidence and performance ability every night. I couldn’t have even predicted who the winner would be because everyone was so good! Everyone had standout moments, and the judges were hard-pressed to find anything to critique!

“The whole experience was a blast!” Wagner said of her time on the West Liberty Idol stage. About the win, she added, “I was so excited when they called my name! The competition was stiff this year and I honestly didn’t think I was going to win, so I’m very excited!” Another well-deserved musician joins the growing list of West Liberty Idol champions. Congrats, Morgan, and I’ll be looking forward to next year’s competition!