First Annual ASC with John Santos
The first session of the Amateur Singing Contest.
The first Amateur Singing Contest began in December
of 2006. Having had its start at Cervejaria Downtown,
it will reach its conclusion on April 21st, 2007, this time
at Casa da Madeira of Toronto, with a great party and
show.
The contest unfolded in simple fashion, but one that
soon showed itself to be ideal for the contestants. Thus,
the first, second and third Wednesdays of every month
was set aside for rehearsals, at Cervejaria Downtown.
In order to allow the participants to take maximum
benefits from the teachings of the technical team that
follows the contest, rehearsals were also held on
Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays at the Bravo, Laurinda’s,
Estrela do Mar and International Restaurants.
The semi-finals were scheduled for the last
Wednesday of each month. During each, a group of
finalists were chosen for the final show in April.
In the month of December we chose two for that
purpose, elected purely by the votes of the audience.
After several comments and suggestions of the
contestants and the public, we decided to create a jury
of experts to also vote. So it was that in January and
February of 2007 two more finalists chosen for each
month. In March, we began selecting four contestants,
repeating with a similar number in April. This way there
will be 10 finalists at the show that will crown the winner
of this first instance of the Amateur Singing Contest.
To ensure greater clarity and legitimacy for the
competition, three people were chosen from the audience
by a random draw of numbered tickets, to be witnesses
during the tabulation of the results. These witnesses were
rewarded for their efforts with a dinner at our good friend
Joe Amorim’s Swiss Challet Restaurant.
During the entire month of April the rehearsals have
continued, in preparation for the final day, April 21st, as
have the voice training sessions with voice coach Jimmi
Daoud, who is, in our opinion, one of the best in Canada
in this business.
Schedule
