Karaoke Fever 2009
The Grand Final
Wednesday 1st July 2009
Well the Grand Final of Karaoke Fever 2009 finally arrived and we had a full house here at The George Hotel in Whitby. All the finalists turned up with the exception of Angela Flanagan and the crowd favourite Karaoke Kris who unfortunately broke his ankle three days earlier! So we had the option of putting in a wild card entry which was handed to Helen Barker seeing as she had entered the heats regularly but unfortunately never won one.
So the nine finalists were gathered together and everyone drew out a number to determine the running order. So here we go. This is how the night went.
I introduced the evening and welcomed everyone to the George Hotel. I then introduced Leyla Pearson, last years winner, to come and sing a song. Heavily pregnant Leyla sang a very nice version of Warwick Avenue by Duffy. She got a nice round of applause as she finished. I then introduced the audience to the three judges for the evening. First we had Caroline Silvers who is a top female vocalist in the North of England. Secondly i introduced Paul Marazzi who was in former boy band A1 and is currently the resident DJ here at the George Hotel. And finally we had Ivan Marazzi who is the General Manager here at the George Hotel. I then turned the attention firmly to the finalists.
Singing first was Jeff Sharpe who was singing in his 2nd final in two years! But could Jeff do any better than his 3rd place he gained last year? He chose to sing If I Can Dream by Elvis Presley for his first song. He was given nice and positive comments by all the judges. He chose Try A Little Tenderness by The Commitments for his second number and deserved the big cheers and applause and the end of his performance.
Jeff during both of his songs.
Next up was Emma Covell who decided to sing the Whitney Houston power ballad I Have Nothing for her first number. She received a mixture of comments from the judges but mainly all positive. For her 2nd song she sang Hero by one of her inpirations, Mariah Carey.
She also received a very strong and worthy round of applause.
Emma putting in two good performances.
Our 3rd singer of the final was Edward Atkinson who like Jeff was appearing in his his 2nd final in two years. He chose for his 1st song Superstition by Stevie Wonder. This was very well sung and went down well with the audience and judges alike. The judges approved of his choice with some postive comments. He sang Three Times A Lady by The Commodores for his second number.
Edd singing both of his numbers.
Our oldest competitor Henry White was next to sing. The 74 year old chose to sing two songs from one of his favourite artists and inspiration, Frank Sinatra. His first number was All The Way which was performed very well and he even had a little dance in the middle of it! Yet again, the judges gave some nice and complimentary comments towards Henry. He followed up with the old favourite Let Me Try Again.
Henry singing and then having a little dance.
Singing 5th was Emma Foster who was back again after appearing in last years final. She chose to sing Ironic by Alanis Morisette for her 1st number. She received a mixture of comments from the judges but mainly positive. Her second song though seemed to be a bit too much for her as she attempted It’s All Coming Back To Me Now by Celine Dion.
Emma performing her two songs.
The next finalist to the stage was Alan Ward. Karaoke mad Alan opened with Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol. It was performed very well although judge Caroline said she wanted more umph for the next song which Alan told her that there would be! He performed Mr Brightside by The Killers to the enthusiastic audience who by now were all either tapping their feet, nodding their heads or jumping around the room. He received a very well deserved round of applause as he finished.
Alan belting out his two numbers.
The 7th singer was George Hotel barmaid Kayleigh Blackman who chose to sing Walking In Memphis by Cher for her 1st song. She seemed a little bit out of her depth and the judges were quick to pick up on this. She did do her best though and her 2nd song of Summer of ’69 by Bryan Adams was a lot stronger and went down very well with the audience.
Kayleigh having a little glance at the camera during her performances.
The penultimate singer was Kelly Broll who sang Foundations by Kate Nash for her 1st song. It was sung very confidently and certainly impressed the judges with Ivan saying “The competition has just started!”. Kelly had good support from family and friends who cheered her along with her next song which was You Had Me by Joss Stone. A deafening cheer and applause greeted Kelly on her finish of a very good performance.
Kelly during her two strong performances.
And finally we had Helen Barker was sang Hero by Enrique Iglasias for her 1st song. It was nicely sung and the judges complimented her on her nice smooth voice. For her 2nd number she sang A Little Respect by Erasure which went down very well with the audience and were all singing their heads off!
Helen singing her two songs.
The judges - Caroline Silvers, Paul Marazzi & Ivan Marazzi
Some of enthusiastic audience !
So as the judges went away to decide on the winner, i sang a couple of songs myself to keep the audience entertained and then a few party tunes while everyone was left in suspense to what the result might be.
Finally i was handed i piece of paper with the results.
So in 4th place and winning a Sat Nav was
Alan Ward
In 3rd place and winning a digital camera was
Edward Atkinson
In 2nd place and winning a 22in LCD TV was
Jeff Sharpe
And the winner of Karaoke Fever 2009 and winning a brand new laptop computer was....
Kelly Broll
All Kelly's family and friends went wild as i announced her as the winner. She was, in my opinion, a worthy and deserved winner of the competition. Ivan presented the prizes and thanked everyone for turning up and thanked myself and the judges.
So that's it then for another year. I hope to continue to see you all down in The George Hotel on Wednesday and Sunday nights for some good old karaoke. If not i hope to see you all again next year for some more
KARAOKE FEVER !
Keith