Beth El Burrows and Sophia Harness have each been singing since they were very young. They also write their own songs.

The two have more in common, although they are a few years apart in age. They entered the 2011 Sedona Sunrise Superstar contest, and they both won.

El Burrows was named the Sunrise Superstar at the Jan. 26 finale and Harness earned the Rising Star crown. The contest is in its second year as a fundraiser for the Sedona Sunrise Center for Adults, the first adult day care center located in Sedona.

“I think it’s incredible this contest helps out the center that is helping the elderly of our community,” said El Burrows, who moved to Sedona about one year ago.

Upon hearing her name announced as the winner, El Burrows said “‘Oh my God,’ was the first thing that came out of my mouth. The judges comments were off the charts. I’m so humbled by the whole thing.”

More than being excited about winning the contest, El Burrows said singing is her passion, her heart’s desire to reach out to people and make them happy — to sing their blues away.

“To stand up there and sing from your heart is so gratifying,” El Burrows said.

All of her life, El Burrows’ life has centered around music, especially singing and writing music. She attended Aspen Music School and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in vocal performance, and said she has been fortunate to have worked with some great bands. She also plays keyboard and is a self-taught harmonica player.

“It will be a privilege and an honor to represent the center for the next year and to sing at the center. In fact, before I won I told Linda Yee I wanted to come and sing,” El Burrows said. “Dreams do come true. It happened to me [Jan. 26].”

Harness is awed by her win. This is her second shot at the title. She entered the inaugural contest in 2010 but there was no category for youth. Yee and the organizers of the Sedona Superstar contest added the Rising Star because of how many talented youth there are in the community, Yee said.

“They made it like a really big deal when I won. It was intense, and I was really shocked when they called my name. I didn’t expect to win, but here I am,” Harness, 13 years old, said. “It was a really tight competition.”

Harness said she has always been that little girl dancing all around the house and singing and putting on performances for the family. She attends classes at Sedona Charter School and is looking forward to transferring to Sedona Red Rock High School in the fall. Harness also plans to pursue music and singing as a career.

“I can’t imagine myself doing anything else,” she said.

Others who made it to the finals include first runner-up J.J. Corcoran and second runner-up Jenifer Jane for the Sedona Superstar title. Yee also named three semifinalists: David Hoover, Jacquie Foshia and Toni Munoz. The runner-up for the Rising Star title was Jerzy Gould.

“This is a wonderful fundraiser and so much fun for the community. It gives people a chance to perform in a competition that they may not otherwise have,” Yee said. “I think we’ll do this again.”