The list of Covington County residents competing in this year’s Alabama Talent Hunt has been cut in half as the competition moves into its final round next week.

Hunter Linzy, a 15-year-old sophomore at Straughn High School, and 9-year-old Marion Bradley, a fourth grade student at Pleasant Home School, have each advanced to the final round, which will be held Sat., May 17, at the Bell building on the campus of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Both students performed at Andalusia’s Three Notch Market and Festival over the weekend and each was excited and honored to have made it so far in the competition.

“It’s unbelievable,” Linzy said. “It’s really amazing because music is pretty much my life.”

Bradley summed it up simply.

“It’s amazing,” she said. “I’m really excited.”

Also excited are both singers’ parents, who have traveled a long road with their talented children.

“It started out with about 100 people,” Tabitha Linzy said of the months-long competition that began in February. “Now, it’s down to about 30.”

Linzy said 10 grand-prize winners will be announced from three different categories, including: children (ages 6 to 12); teens (ages 13-18); and adult (ages 19 and up). Those winners will each get a chance to be professionally recorded and added to a CD titled “Alabama’s Emerging Artists 2014,” which will be released on iTunes. They will also receive a one-year contract for professional development with the Alabama Talent Co..

Both Linzy and Marion’s mother, Jennifer Bradley, said they are looking forward to a strong showing from their kids next week in Birmingham.

“Hunter got the top score in the second and third rounds,” Tabitha Linzy said. “He also got the overall highest score in all categories in the last round. Marion got the top score in the kids category in the fourth round.”

So, with plenty of success from which to draw, the remaining representatives from Covington County will try to make it two wins in a row for the area, after former Andalusia Middle School student Christian Wossilek won it all in 2013.

Linzy sings predominantly country music, while Bradley said she performs mostly Christian songs.