Stonewall Sensation Week 9

After what has been a very interesting few weeks we are coming down to the wire and the competition is heating up....... Blah Blah Blah, I feel like I am Tom what's his name on Dancing with the stars, let's face it this is a drinking game, albeit a game with some pretty damn talented singers, and a pretty sweet grand prize.

So without further ado here is the run down.

Stonewall Sensation Week 9

Ring Master: Brandon Cutrell
Kat Shurelle on the 88's.
Dj Chuckles filling in for CT.
And as always the every popular team of Mikey and LaLa aka Lawerence behind the bar getting us FADED.

So we had a few special guest judges, but for the life of me I didn't catch their names, but we had our usual suspects, to give us their judgement.
Ariel Sinclair
Poppi Kramer
Adam Feldman

We are still left with 5 contestants:
Alex Amarosa
Sarah Cummings
Creighton Fraker
Jeff Jones
Sara Straw

The rankings this week were as follows;
Top 2
With 69 Votes Jeff Jones
With 56 Votes Creighton Fraker

Safe in the Middle

With 54 Votes Sarah Straw

Bottom 2
Tied with 44 votes each
Alex Amarosa
Sarah Cummings

This is the first time this has ever happened at Stonewall Sensation so the judges decided that no will be eliminated this week.

Theme: Up and coming songwriters, and Bartenders Choice.

Act 1
Up and Coming Songwriters
Our merry band of performers were given a list of new songwriters, this reporter did not have a chance to see said list but I doubt I would have recognized any names on list, but I was told these are some of the newest and brightest talent currently on the scene. I really have no real input on the contestants during this act. It is very hard for me to make any positive or negative feedback on music I have never heard of, most of the choices this evening were all ballads, and as sweet and heart wrenching as some were. I was ready to take a whole bottle of Tylenol PM, chug a bottle of Jamesson, slit my writs and slip into a warm tub. The singing by all of the participants was well done, but I did see most of them struggling with songs and music they were unfamiliar with. It was a rough first act but all them pushed through and gave it their best effort.
Well done Kids!!!!!!!!!!!

Act 2
Bartenders Choice
Now this is the part of the show we were waiting for. Our intrepid bartenders have racked their Alcohol fogged brains to find the perfect song for each of our contestants’ voices. (Ahhh who am I kidding I think the guys got loaded after work and picked shit out of a hat.)

1. Sara Straw: I'm the only one, Melissa Ethridge
This is a great song for Sarah's voice; she added a bit of rock edge to it, which makes this song great for her vocal range.

2. Alex Amarosa: That's Life, Frank Sinatra
Alex sang this song very well and added his own little twist to it. He gave it a bit of a jazzy, blues, lounge act feel and made it his own. Alex is very comfortable in this genre and the showmanship he imparts lends to his appeal to the audience.

3. Creighton Fraker: Dream On, Areosmith
OK so I am sure by now you all know how I feel about this kid. As I have previously lambasted this young man for his lack of originality in his vocal stylings. His constant use of his head voice versus his chest voice, so it was I guess to be expected that the song choice for him this week would be Dream On by Aerosmith. It is a perfect song for his register and he pulled off the high notes and got into the campy showmanship that the song tends to offer. So I guess good job Creighton, I just wish I can hear you do something different, and blow us all way.

4. Sarah Cummings: The Man That Got Away, Music by Harold Arlen, Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
So most of us Queens and Theater Folk all know that Judy Garland made this song famous in the 1954 movie A Star is Born. This song is hard to pull off because everyone expects a specific way it should be sung, well at least how they think it should be sung. I give kudos to Sara for taking the song serious, and putting some effort into the execution of the piece. My only real issue I have with her performance was the choice of background track. It was to fast and she rushed through a deliberately slow song, the pace of the song is key and she has the voice for it. I think she cheated herself out of a truly great moment, by not taking the time to comb through the various tracks for this song.

5. Jeff Jones: I Want to Break Free, Queen
Alright the showmanship award this week goes to Jeff Jones, after a quick costume change and a shave. Jeff Jones, comes out on stage to rock Queen's anthem to non-conformity, in cut off jean shorts, and sporting a 1970's porn star mustache Jeff rocked the house, and gave us Freddy Mercury realness. Great Job man!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stonewall Sensation will be back 12/01/2010 after the Thanksgiving holiday

The theme will be 3 songs each to be sung:
1. Judges Pick
2. A song already sung w/Kat
3. A New Song to be sung w/Kat

I am looking forward to returning after the Holiday to see what our little monkey’s come up with, I am sure the time off with be greatly appreciated by them all and I hope they take the time to practice, practice, practice.