Coventry Resident Comes In Sixth Of 28 In Karaoke Contest

Coventry resident, Elese Morrone came in 6th place out of 28 contestants at Friday night's Karaoke Contest Finals hosted by Seekonk’s . The contest began at 8 p.m. and was packed by 10:30.

Every Tuesday and Friday, for eight long weeks, combed the crowds and brought 30 semi-finalists to the stage Friday night, Feb. 4, for a shot at a grand (well, a grand split between the top three). 

 The 30 were whittled down to 16, then 15 in the second round to seven in the final. After  five hours of soloists putting it on the line, the winner was finally announced just after 1 a.m.

 When the contestants seemed top-tier at round two, the final round blew all else out of the water.

True to his word, Sergio chose four all new judges for the finals, all with either musical or theatrical accreditations. Moreover, judges Mike Cutta, Nicole Panciocco, Kim Mailhot and Tim Hicks are all karaoke regulars at the Box, Nicole Panciocco having participated in past competitions.

 The empathetic judges, who realized quickly that they tended to be slightly more critical of their friends than unknown contenders, clandestinely judged on two aspects: vocals and stage presence.

 One clear standout of the evening was John William Casey, Jr., or J.C. to the crowd. 

 J.C.’s penultimate song was a 100 percent nailed version of “Hey, Soul Sister” by Train. His winning song was Cee-Lo’s “F**k You,” a crowd pleaser, but not child-friendly. Both songs included impossibly high notes and roused the audience to hooting and shouting when J.C. hit those notes as flawlessly as he executed rest of his performance, and competition for that matter.

“Really, we all gave him a 10 out of five, and the funny thing is, we didn’t confer about it until after,” secretly said Panciocco of the 28-year-old during a break in the second round.

Another notable of the evening was Razz, a former contest contender who had yet to take home first place. With his forehead against a table in between performances, things weren’t looking so good as he waited to perform his throaty version of “Hard To Handle” by The Black Crowes.

“Remember when [Sergio] was talking about the singers who are sick?” asked Razz and then gesturing to himself, “I think it’s the flu or something. . . I’ve won second place before, but I always lost first to a woman.”

 Razz, 25, from Warren, R.I., ended taking home fourth place that evening, along with a $50 gift certificate. 

Morrone, the lead singer of local band "For the love of Sloane", came in sixth place, singing "I kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry, "Redneck Woman" by Gretchen Wilson and "Call Me When You're Sober" by Evanescence during her time in the competition.

 The top five of the competition won prizes of ascending value: Fifth place Amanda G. and fourth place Razz each won gift certificates. The competition was so close that the judges met for an impromptu caucus to break the three-way split for second, third and fourth place.

 Jay Walker came in third, winning $75 dollars. Fallon Valie earned second place and consequently $175 with her rendition of “Killing Me Softly” by Lauryn Hill.

First place, well, let’s say J.C. was a standout of a reason. Having taken home second and third place in prior competitions, the 28-year-old from Andover took home the prize $750 dollars.

 J.C., who had made it to the first American Idol round in New Jersey was turned away after being told that he didn’t have what the show was looking for. 

 “It hurt because music’s my whole life. I’m trying to finance my own album. . . It’s not easy,” said the fedora-wearing winner.

 No doubt, the cash J.C. took home that night, perhaps apart from a bit of celebrating, will be going straight to his album-in-progress.

And there’s no rest for the wary as qualifiers for the next eight-week competition start immediately this coming Tuesday, Feb. 8.