Karaoke King
Anderson Bar & Grill
8060 Beechmont Ave. 474-2212
ABG has always been recognized for their fantastic bar food and great live entertainment. As an added attraction they feature one of the most entertaining karaoke shows in the city making Anderson Bar and Grill home of the biggest Karaoke Contest this side of Vegas!
Eastside Vibe was there to check out the November finals, it was wall to wall with rowdy fans who showed up in droves to support their favorite Anderson Idol contestants. The last contest ending in cashing out over $2000.00 to the top five finalists. That’s amazing to think you can win $1000 just for coming out to sing at ABG.
Todd Humphries (aka Karaoke Todd) has been hosting shows at ABG for over five years.
The first Anderson Idol contest was the brainchild of Todd and Chris Ornella (general manager at ABG). Todd (an American Idol junkie) and Chris (has never seen one minute of the show) obviously had some differences on concept.
Todd tivo’s every show and Chris wouldn’t know the difference between Kelly Pickler from Kelly Clarkston. Nevertheless, this odd couple sat down together and a few beers later Anderson Idol was on the marquee. Now, they have enjoyed two hugely successful contests, and their third one is starting now.
In November, first place and the title of “Anderson Idol” went to Tia Noah (along with $1000 in cash). Bet you wish you were Tia huh? Soon you could be. If you have what it takes to be the next Anderson Idol then get registered now.
To be crowned an Anderson Idol winner and win the grand prize of $1000.00 you start by qualifying for the semi finals. Qualifications will be held during all this month starting on the first Saturday.
Karaoke crooners will have a chance during all of ABG’s January karaoke shows to qualify for the semi finals. The shows will be on Thursdays and Saturdays.
After selecting all the participants for the semi-final event the 12 finalists will go on based upon vocal ability, stage presence, song choice and audience reaction. From this point the fun begins with the finalists performing two songs each night from preselected genres and themes for six weeks.
Their will be always be a country night, rock night, movies and musicals represented and maybe a night of scaryokie where the contestants are caught off guard.
The contestants and the staff at ABG really get into the contest with dressing the part for the different theme nights. This contest differs from the real American Idol because no one is voted off. Contestants compete for points which accumulate over the six week event.
The contestants earn points two ways: judges score their performances each night for points and the audience has a chance to vote for their favorite performer by buying support votes.
$2 buys a vote which adds to their point totals. The more supporters the better. The better you perform the more supporters you’ll have.
At the end of the six shows the top five are announced and invited back to perform for the grand prize money. ABG guarantees $1000 first place with $250.00 second place and restaurant gift cards for the third fourth and fifth place finishers.
Participation has been so great that cash was awarded to all top five winners in the last contest. That means this next Anderson Idol will most likely be even bigger and of course when the participation grows so does the prize money!
The results from the last contest:
Tia Noah $1000.00
Allen Walker $500
Erica Gillum $350
Sarah Ammerman $200
Audrey Sersion $150
With all this cash up for grabs the excitement takes on a new level. It brings out more and more talented people no one would have known of if they were still singing at some penny ante karaoke contest. The only downside is after seeing the last Anderson Idol finals in November ABG might need a bigger bar if they keep this up. Hey wait a minute, that’s not a downside at all is it? Don’t worry EV will get the live performances on video so you can at least check it out on our website if you can’t get in.
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