Huron, SD - September 25, 2018 “I’m really a very shy person and people are always surprised when I get up on stage and sing,” confessed our 2018 Dakota Star Talent Search Winner, Alexis Urena. This 18 year old young lady from Huron, showed no fear as she wowed the judges, along with a large State Fair crowd, and delivered an impressive performance. Alexis is very humble regarding her win and does not consider herself a musical person since she doesn’t play an instrument or read music. Nor did she ’inherit’ musical talent from her family, but she does have an ear for vocals and has proven she can compete with the best of them.
The Dakota Star Search is sponsored by Dakotaland Federal Credit Union and is a high visibility event for local artists and musicians to showcase their talent. It is hosted on the Freedom Stage during the South Dakota State Fair and entries of all ages were submitted from across the state. Miss Urena was the winner of the adult category, while second place honors went to Tracie Samelson of Redfield. In the junior category (age 12-17) top honors went to Sylvia Kattner of Huron, second place to Elli Richardson of Sioux Falls and third place to Kianna Healy of Hartford. Aurora Dreyer of Huron was the winner of the child category (up to 11 years of age), Lucy LaMont of Aberdeen took second place and third place went to Greta Bott of Huron.
Miss Urena was proud to say she was the winner of the Dakota Star junior category last year, which prompted her to enter the adult division this year. “Honestly, I didn’t think I had a chance of winning against the ‘big kids’, but I had fun last year and wanted to try it again,” explained Alexis. Our Dakota Star is a big fan of musical celebrities like Adel, Alicia Keys and Ariana Grande. Even though Urena has always liked music, she didn’t really know she could sing until she performed in POPS in high school.
When asked what she planned to do with the $1,000 prize monies, she revealed she intends to put it toward the purchase of a car for college. Alexis is the daughter of Juan and Jessica Urena and she will attend Mitchell Technical Institute in the fall of 2019 to study Radiology.