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Laura Wadley chose a counterintuitive approach for her winning entry in The Salt Lake Tribune and KUER's first-ever "Elevate'R Music" song parody contest.

The Provo children's librarian, a born-and-raised Utahn, suspected there would be plenty of entries making fun of the cultural peculiarities of the state's dominant religion, so she pursued the opposite tack in "That's the Mormons," her take-off on "That's Amore."

The 1953 Dean Martin hit affectionately makes fun of Italian-American stereotypes, and Wadley's cover version borrows that strategy, with lyrics that begin: "If you think our fair state / isn't really that great / bash the Mormons!"

Wadley's song was selected as the winner from 130 entries in the contest, which was judged by the Washington, D.C.-based political comedy troupe the Capitol Steps. Judges lauded the song as a "simple, clean and well-known cover, which is what always works the best. It said a lot in a nice, quick song."

The contest, launched along with the run of Salt Lake Acting Company's 28th annual production of its musical satire "Saturday's Voyeur," offered a light-hearted way to consider the serious nature of local humor. That's the topic of KUER's RadioWest show, which airs today at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.

The show will feature Salt Lake City's longtime satirical singers the Saliva Sisters performing Wadley's song, as well as runners-up "We Didn't Start the Choir" by Gerald McDonough and "Under the Lake (The Bear Lake Monster Song)" by M. Spaff Sumsion.

Judges liked how McDonough's Billy Joel cover borrowed the image of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for its title. The lyrics were "well-thought-out and fun" with its lists of news quirks and Utah celebrities, past and present. But Capitol Steps performer Mark Eaton joked the song would have been even better if it would have included the former red-headed Jazz center.

"Lots of great rhyming," judges proclaimed of Sumsion's "Under the Lake," a Jamaican-accented rip-off of "Under the Sea" from "The Little Mermaid," which invented the image of a Bear Lake monster who likes munching on raspberry-shake-sweetened tourists. The song was noted for following the meter of the original, a tricky feat in parody writing, and judges underscored this line as a favorite: "I dig de Mormons 'cause dey all / Low in caffeine and alcohol."

Contact Ellen Fagg at ellenf@sltrib.com or 801-257-8621. Send comments about this story to livingeditor@sltrib .com.

Song, sung true

For tickets to Salt Lake Acting Company's "Saturday's Voyeur: 2006," which plays through Aug. 20, call 801-363-SLAC or visit http://www.saltlakeactingcompany.org.