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Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) has announced that an 8-year-old Minnesota boy, a 12-year-old Texas girl and a 13-year-old girl from New Jersey were the winners in last summer's second annual "Junior Star Seeker" competition held aboard the line's cruise ships.

Junior Star Seeker contestants perform a three-minute routine during the cruise before a panel of judges consisting of the ship’s hotel and cruise directors, plus a musician and a guest performer from the ship’s entertainment staff.

The summer 2005 Junior Star Seeker program begins in June, runs through August and will be offered on every NCL ship. The program will feature talent in three separate categories: voice, dance and instrumental.

One winner for each category will ultimately receive the grand prize of a family cruise, for up to four members, and a spot on the ship’s variety show to perform their winning routine. The winners for summer 2004 were:

Andy Xue, 8, of Plymouth, MN, a third-grader at Plymouth Creek Elementary, who was awarded the prize in the instrumental category for his piano performance of Beethoven’s “Fur Elise” aboard Norwegian Sun on the August 2 sailing.

Tessa Moore, 12, of Azle, Texas, a sixth-grader who was won in the dance category for her performance on the August 8 sailing on Norwegian Sea of a creative dance routine to “I’ll Be There for You.”

Krista Pioppi, 13, of Succasuna, NJ, an 8th-grader at Eisenhower Middle School who won in the vocal category for her performance of “On My Own,” from the musical Les Miserables, during the August 8 sailing on Norwegian Dawn.