Paten was all smiles on Wednesday night at the Willew.

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Travis Paten Win Michigan Idol Season 4

June 17, 2012
By: Sean Connelly

This was it.

The final week of Michigan Idol Season 4 at the Willew Lounge in Bay City.

It was the culmination of 10 weeks of hard work and dedication for many talented individuals, all hoping to get their hands on the 50cc Schwinn Hope Scooter provided by Steven's Cycle Sales of Bay City.



Sadly, only one of them could win the scooter. And while many felt any one of the top 3 contestants could have won this season, there was one competitor who was a cut above the rest.

Travis Paten took home the grand prize this season, after placing in the top 5 last season.

After watching Paten's final performance of Season 4, Joey Atchinson, Season 3 winner and Season 4 judge, gave his thoughts on Paten's Season 4 performance overall,

"You were the one I was sure I had to watch out for last season," said Atchinson.

"You've got great talent, and you proved it every night out there on the stage."



"Sure I would have liked to have won," said third place finish Jesse Fisher, "but the guy who truly deserved it (Paten) is the guy who won it. My hat's off to him." Fisher is looking forward to another chance at placing, and winning, in the next season of Michigan Idol which won't take place until the end of the summer. "As long as they'll have me, I'm going to keep coming out until I win," said Fisher. "It'll only help me get better."



Which is exactly the message so many who have won in the past try to spread. Keep coming, keep trying, hone your craft, and eventually it will pay off. "If you look at my performances from the first couple seasons (at the Stables)," said Judge Atchinson, "they were just awful. It was like, what am I even doing?" But Atchinson stuck with it, continued to grow as an artist, and has now won Michigan Idol and gone on to record his own original music with Andy Reed at the Reed Recording Studio in Essexville. "Recording your own music (...) there's just no other feeling like it."



As for Paten, who was busy fending off all the congratulatory hand shakes, hugs, pats on the back, and even hopping on to his brand new 50cc Schwinn Hope scooter, he had his own advice for contestants new and old. "Just have fun, man," said Paten, "get the crowd in to it. Make them feel like you're a part of them. Don't feel like you have to be serious all the time. If you're not out there having fun it's just not worth it."



Paten has had an incredible past two weeks, as he proposed to his fiancé last week during his Week 9 performance, and then won the grand prize this week. "It just feels awesome," said Paten immediately after winning the competition, "not quite as awesome as proposing to my girlfriend last week during the performance, but almost."

Michigan Idol is going on a slight hiatus for the summer, taking some time to let the competitors recharge and to gain even more competition for Season 5. But when Michigan Idol does return to the Willew Lounge in Bay City, you can bet that it will be bigger and better than ever.