The annual MetroStar Talent Challenge, which began on July 12th with almost five dozen contenders performing over three Monday nights, is heating up.  Working its way toward the big Gala Finale on August 30th, the original horde of hopefuls had been winnowed down by August 9th to ten Quarter Finalists, selected by combined votes of the judges and the audiences.

Tom Gamblin (pictured), the series host, opened the show with his own performance, singing – what could be more appropriate for the occasion? – Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields’s “If My Friends Could See Me Now.”

Long-time cabaret critic Roy Sander and Cabaret Scenes’ own Rob Lester are the contest’s ongoing judges.  On this night, they were joined by guest judges Eric Comstock, Barbara Fasano, Valerie Smaldone and Lise Avery.  One of the more absorbing aspects of this contest is that, now past the preliminary stages, the judges are following each contestant’s turn at the microphone with comments on the performance and suggestions meant to help improve the performance just seen.

August 16th will see the eight selected by judges and the audience from this night’s show to be the semi-finalists.  They are Mart Bowe, Janice Hall, Connie James, Cindy Marchionda, Alison Nusbaum, Ruben Ramos, T. Oliver Reid and Amy Beth Williams.  It wouldn’t be cricket, in the middle of the contest, to name this reviewer’s favorites, but I will acknowledge that they’ve made it so far.  The plan for the 16th is to allow the contestants to sing one song of their own choosing, and for the judges to have named a second song for each from the selections they’d previously performed at an earlier level of the contest.

The Musical Director, Nate Buccieri, has done an excellent job supporting the varied styles that the contestants have brought to the show.  Tracy Stark sits in on the sixteenth as Musical Director, and a special treat should be the promised performance of Allan Harris added to his chores as one of that night’s guest judges.

Perhaps the most telling moment for the to-be-chosen five finalists will come at the “First Round Finals” on the twenty-third. That night, each contestant will do a mini-set of three songs with patter.  That critical moment may be the one song, chosen by the room’s booking manager, Tanya Holt, which each contestant will have to include in his or her set.  It should be a night when “making the song your own” really comes to the fore.

Is it worth a contestant’s effort and angst to compete through eight consecutive Mondays?  Well, here’s what the contest’s sponsors promise: “The Metropolitan Room will commit to producing and presenting a new show starring the winner, in a week-long, prime-time engagement. The grand prize-winner gets a Music Director and stage director, a graphic designer to create marketing imagery.”  Yes, it certainly seems worth the effort.

Editor's note: The eight semi-finalists were narrowed down to five finalists since this piece was filed. They are: Janice Hall, Cindy Marchionda, Alison Nusbaum, Oliver Reid and Amy Beth WIlliams.

Peter Leavy
Cabaret Scenes
August 9, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org