After the intermission ended, the tension begin building up again because the band category was slated to proceed next. Clearly, the idea of playing in a band is way much more perplexing than having to do the job alone. Dynamics, coordination, concept of space, showmanship on top of the strength of the vocals being able to carry off the band as well as stage presence are all factors that were going to come into play.
This was also when the competition level started to diversify a little, with bands displaying more personality finding more favour with the audience. 4 Avenues, with a line-up of teens barely over 16 won the hearts of many despite not placing in the top 3. For a moment there, their rendition of Taylor Swift's Love Story brought back smiles to faces and memories of high school talentime for many. One of the judges also commented about how he had seen 4 Avenues' previous performances before and their ability to constantly engage the audience. You can check out the performance here:
There were the Shockers that left quite an impression in the semi-finals for the wrong reasons, and the contestants' display picture is all you need to get the full picture. There were several bands that opted for the medley route - mashup of several songs of their own choice and to be honest, it was going to be difficult to do justice to all the songs in the medley. Expectations for the different songs in the medley added up and it was the Shockers that did the best job out of the bands who opted to do medley. Watch them kick off with Nirvana's classic "Smells Like Teen Spirit" here:
Though there were bands that didn't end up placing in top 3, they definitely could be proud of their on-day performances, there was Audio Kream. Judges complimented on strong personality as well as X-factor of lead vocalist to be able to carry the band. Should my memory serve me right, they were also leading in terms of the number of the audiences' votes halfway through the band category. These weren't slouches for sure, do keep an eye for them!
The metal-heads arrived in the form of St Helens and were the much needed wisp of fresh air in the competition. You might have mis-read the former as wisp of fresh hair as indeed, there was a dedicated post-performance interview with the hosts on how lead vocalist managed to keep his hair outrageously long and shiny for a guy!
And finally, the band that captivated the imaginations of both the judges as well as the audience. Performing to the classic "Time After Time", Freedom emerged victorious in this band category. There just wasn't many faults to be had with them - the rhythm section held up well, the guitar effects and keyboards didn't miss a note and there was just nothing more to ask for from the band for a top 3 worthy performance.
You can check out rest of bands' pictures below:
As well as the prize ceremony, congratulations to the all the bands!
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