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Citing inclement weather concerns by prospective contestants, officials have canceled Blount County’s Rising Star of Tennessee vocal competition, which was scheduled to begin Feb. 27.

“We decided Monday night, which was very short notice, but from what I was hearing from all of the potential contestants, they feared trying to make it to Blount County to compete,” chairperson Shelia Hale-Bledsoe told The Daily Times. “I had some from North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, Georgia, even Murfreesboro -- and they all said they didn’t mind getting here, but they didn’t want to get stuck here.”

Scheduled to take place at Alcoa High School, Rising Star has been organized for the past three years as a fundraiser for Patch Ministries, an alternative to Habitat for Humanity. An “American Idol”-style vocal competition, it featured singers competing before a live audience and a panel of judges for a prize package worth several thousand dollars.

The competition raised $6,500 for Patch last year, but entries from possible contestants was down leading up to Friday’s deadline.

Many potential contestants inquired about whether Rising Star will be rescheduled for later this year. Right now, whether it will continue at all is up in the air, Hale-Bledsoe said.