By Suelika N. Buchanan
The Observer
The O.D. Brisbane Smirnoff Ice Karaoke Annual Competition held its qualification round on Tuesday October 25 at the BET Soundstage Lounge room.
The male participants were Garth, of SoundCore Ent., E.K. of Sugar City Rock, Marlon, Barnin, Joseph, Mikey, Randy, Marvin, Source, Skef, Razor, Jah-son, Rally, Dexter, Dominic, Dave, Mark of SoundCore Ent and C.J.
The male participants brought their emotions out in their singing, as they slightly danced, moved around the stage or made obvious facial gestures that expressed their feelings.
One of the highlights of the night came when one of the participants not only sang Stevie Wonders’ hit, “Ribbon in the sky” but also gave a good impression of the American Grammy winner.
Rally also amused the audience when he went up and sang the “Star Spangled Banner” which is the National Anthem of the United States, and received a standing-ovation for his strong opera-like voice.
Ending off the male round was an extremely talented individual going by the name of C.J. His vocal ability is up to par with the likes of the leading R&B singers Internationally. His version of “You got it bad” by Usher was thrilling.
The ladies that performed were Lorraine, Jessica, Ticoya, Mariece, Renetta, Marissa, Cordella, Petrula, Michelle and Kim.
The ladies were not as strong as the men were and some didn’t seem as comfortable on the stage as they stood one place. However, Cordella who sang Jessica Simpson’s “Take my breath away” surprised everyone, as she at first seemed as the underdog.
After the end of the rounds seven males and seven females have qualified unto the semi-finals. The seven males to move unto the next round are Skeff, Dominic, E.K, C.J, Rally, Mark and Biggers. The female qualifiers were Cordella, Mareice, Renetta, Petrula, Lorraine, Michelle and Ticoya.
For the second round, which is next week Tuesday, the participants will have to choose two different genres of songs.
