RSA karaoke draws crowd

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 407, 8 October 1991, Page 6

RSA karaoke draws crowd

BY

JO

HOWIE

Contestants from all over the Ruapehu region sang last weekend in the Kareoke Talent Quest at the Waiouru Returned Service Association.(RSA) "We had no idea how popular this would be. This is the next biggest thing to the World Cup! " said Willie Walker, the RSA's president. "We've been packed out for the last two nights, and tonight we had to close the doors at 9:45pm. There would be well over 200 people each night, and we've had record saies over the bar and at the door," said Willie. Ngatai Ahipene, the entertainment commit-

tee member said the response has been incredible, especially when only a few months ago they had only received three entries. "I think what has attracted people is the generous prize money." "The entertainment committee wanted something a little different to entertain the community, that's why we thought we'd try the Kareoke Talent Quest." said Ngatai. "We've tried to be as fair as possible and asked a panel of judges from varied backgrounds of musical experiences." The judges were Willie Walker, Margaret Cross, Tic Toc Isaacs, Maureen Price, Bubs Wharehinga,

Big Foot Toots, and Jo Pohatu. One of the judges, Tic Toc Isaacs, a multi instrumentalist, professional musician and an ex army band member, said he thought the standard was very high. "I'm used to judging brass bands where you assess purely on the rythym, tone and pitch. But for this, a big part of the competition is presentation, personality, and the voice," Tic Toc said. The finalists were Rick Kingi and Louise Jones from Waiouru, Stephanie La Tour from National Park, Mike Thompson and Hemi

Biddle from Raetihi, Priscilla Richards, Ross Ellwood, and Aroha Clarkin from Ohakune. First prize of $800 went to Priscilla Richards, second prize ($500) Ross Ellwood, third prize ($200) Hemi Biddle. Fourth and fifth place went to Stephanie La Tour and Aroha Clarkin winning a bottle of champagne each. The president, Willie Walker, thanked the compere Peter Pitts and Tauri Morgan. He also thanked the organising committee, Ngatai Ahipene, Pat Akurangi, Abb Grootjons, and Blue Davis for all their ef- - forts.