Week Five AWARDS

I wish like hell I could hand out "Most Improved" Awards from this competition. I have 2 "Most Improved" and I have one "Wild Card" (where you would give one person a ticket to be in the Finals because they deserve to be there even though they aren't)...

ED PUMA - my first nominee for the MOST IMPROVED Award. He performed 3 or 4 weeks that I was there, and every one progressively better. I didn't expect to see people perform more than one week but it was actually cool to see people progress. But Ed had gotten stronger and better as the weeks went on and he deserves some recognition for that.

INGRID LAND - my second nominee for MOST IMPROVED. She came in a hoodie and sneakers the first time I saw her and did an "OK" rendition of a Melissa Etheridge tune. Then she asked what she could do better and I told her. She listened, and improved. She came singing progressively better each week until LAST NIGHT definitely her best showing of the competition and a MARKED improvement over the first time I saw her perform. EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY GOOD JOB.

Last but not least, my WILD CARD would be BRIAN CHEEVERS. I think Brian deserves to be in the Finals, he is an EXCELLENT singer but also a GREAT performer and VASTLY entertaining. He is versatile, proved by his strong showing on both Country (Rascal Flatts) and pop (Billy Joel - WOW), and he is definitely an undiscovered talent. He is comfortable and at home on that stage and I really think Brian deserved a spot on Finals night -- though the evening that he WOULD have placed first, the man who DID place first was virtually unbeatable. I hope Brian comes back for our second Competition in March.

I will get this weeks reviews and scores posted tonight. Have a great week, folks! :-)

Feroni - OUT!