.: Print Version :.

NORTH BEND — There was a new level of competition evident in the Colgate Country Showdown state final, which was held Saturday at The Mill Casino-Hotel in North Bend.

Contestants brought out the big guns — original music and instruments — taking the event from a run-of-the-mill singing contest to a search for a superstar. Six of the eight contestants wrote at least one of their two songs, and four of them played instruments as they sang, neither of which occurred in earlier rounds of the local competition.

Cody Davis, 20, of Corvallis won the $1,000 prize and will return to The Mill on Oct. 13 to compete in the western regional.

“This is one of my proudest moments,” said Davis, who won at the local level in Newport.

Davis, a new student at Oregon State University, performed two original songs Saturday: “Standin’ in the Rain,” which he did solo on acoustic guitar, and “Truck Bed Saturday Night” with Bob Manning and Nashville West, the backup band on hand for the show.

Davis said he taught himself to play guitar and write songs three years ago, when his brother Ryan told him he would need to do both to make it as a country singer. He said he learned “just like that,” making it sound really easy.

He also made it look easy when he brought the crowd of about 400 into his performance at The Mill.

“Cody, to me, was someone who had the whole package,” said judge Kim Handsaker. “He had the voice, he had the stage presence, he wrote his own music and they were good songs. For each of them, I thought, ‘Could I see this person opening for Toby Keith?’ With some of the others, maybe with a little bit of grooming. With Cody, yeah, I could see that today.”

Handsaker was part of a new panel of judges for the state final, including Karl Bender, Robert Chaney Sr. and Debbie James. There will be another all-new panel for the regional.

Local winner Samantha Rogers, 17, of North Bend also competed in the state final, singing “When Will I Be Loved” by Linda Ronstadt and “Blame It On Your Heart” by Patty Loveless. Though she performed well, the lack of original music cost critical points in the close contest.

“It was what it was,” Rogers said of her performance. “I loved the live band. I loved every minute.”

Though she was unsure if she would compete again in the showdown, Rogers said her future plans include singing with the U.S. Marine Corps Band in Virginia Beach, Va., in November.

Contestants were given seven minutes to perform and were judged on marketability in country music, vocal ability, originality, stage presence and talent. The showdown is run by hundreds of country music radio stations across the country, including KSHORE and KJMX.

Last year’s local, state and regional winner, Hailey Stout, went on to finish second nationally. She has since moved to Nashville and begun recording and touring.

With only six states sending finalists, the West is the smallest region in the showdown — meaning less competition for Davis.

In the three years since he began, Davis said he has written more than 100 songs, but his family unanimously decided on the two he chose to perform. His father, Ron, is director of football operations at OSU, and his mother, Sharon, is director of Head Start in Toledo.

Davis said he would probably stick with the same songs for the regional competition.

“Why mess with success?” he said.