Vets senior Donnie Brearton has set boundaries for his senior project – “go big, or go home.”

He’s going big time.

Brearton is organizing a multi-leveled singing performance competition, open to all high school students in Rhode Island called Vets’ the Voice.

Brearton attended Pilgrim Idol and he’s helped organize Vets’ talent and he’s found there isn’t any local competition for solo acts from various schools to compete against one another.

The competition will work similarly to the show, The Voice, with “blind auditions” where judges will not be able to see the contestants, but will choose to turn around when they are impressed by any one performance. The five finalists will then receive free vocal lessons before the finale from Nancy Kennedy, Brearton’s mentor as well as Vets’ choral director.

“The lessons alone make the competition worth it. I didn’t see anything like this in the community so I thought I’d make one myself,” Brearton said.

Having participated in all of Vets’ vocal groups during his high school career, Brearton knows there are also a lot of talented performers who don’t participate in chorus and Vets’ the Voice could provide an opportunity to showcase that talent.

Brearton, who started singing at age 4, has come to love it through his high school courses. After high school he would like to pursue music, possibly taking time off before pursuing higher education to test out his chances in performing.

“I really want to be famous one day,” Brearton said. “I know that when I’m 80 and looking back on my life, I’ll be so sad if I never at least give it a try.”

To start, he’s trying to “make a mark” on the school for its last year.

With Vets closing, Brearton believes that many students want to go above and beyond for their senior projects, to make sure the final class goes out with a bang,

He said, “We are all a really great group of kids. We try and do a lot with the community and if the school has to close with consolidation, I feel a bit better it could be our class.”

Despite being a singer, Brearton will not be participating in the competition.

He will run each show and wants to ensure that it is “very professional” and knows the biggest obstacle is going to be making the shows go smoothly and “flow.”

“I want this to be really big,” Brearton said. “I want to get the word out there to as many as possible.”

Auditions will be Feb. 8 where 10 finalists will be chosen to participate in the blind auditions, an audience performance on Feb. 26 with four judges, choosing four finalists and the fifth being chosen by the audience through live tweets. The five finalists will be able to partake in vocal lessons with Nancy Kennedy on either Saturday, Feb. 27 or Monday, Feb. 29. The finale, also an audience performance, will be on March 4 with the winner being chosen by the audience.

For high school students looking to participate in Vets’ the Voice, online registration can be found at https://form.jotform.com/53405647365156 or visit the Vets’ the Voice Facebook page.

He is also looking for music educators from around the state to serve as judges for the final two competitions.

All participants must be in high school, ages 15 to 18, be able to commit to all dates before their audition and should be a solo act and have prepared a 3-minute piece, either a capella, accompanied by a backing track or a pianist. All events will take place in the Vets auditorium.