Parrothead Ramblings

The victorious Miss J sings her heart out for Z-Man.

Last night, we headed on over to the Waterfront Grill in Chandler. The Waterfront is alternatively known as "The Wet Spot." Whoever came up with that name must have figured out afterwards that the "wet spot" is something people actually try to avoid, so now it's just called "The Waterfront."

Mark Mulligan was playing over there, and we found assembled the usual rowdy group of suspects assembled to listen, sing along, and generally have a great time. We had to bug out early because Miss J was performing at a karaoke contest up the road, and we wanted to be there to hear and support her.

We showed up at Famous Sam's in Gilbert, which was significantly less crowded and rowdy than The Waterfront. Of course, that's only because Mark wasn't there. Miss J and Z-Man, of course, were there. Miss J seemed a little fidgety and nervous, but she denied it. I knew better. She was the runner up last year, and I could tell she really wanted to win the thing this time.

I was thinking the competition would be pretty tough. I mean, the contest was sponsored by KDKB, there was a professional promotion crew of some sort there to run it, and they had a very good emcee. I asked Miss J what she had to do to qualify for this shindig, and she told me she needed only to sign up.

Once the singing started, that became painfully obvious, best represented by the middle-aged woman who thought she could sing the Carpenters. Wrong. Nails on a chalkboard. We've Only Just Begun .....to throw up. I kind of liked the rocker guy with the Lynyrd Skynyrd hair. He did Alice Cooper's Eighteen and reminded me a little of Bo Bice. Well, after a six-month cheeseburger binge, maybe.Bo, Karen Crapenter, and all the others got polite applause for their efforts. Well, not by me. I was too busy getting my ass handed to me in a game of video bowling by The Fetching Mrs. Crime Dog. And everybody else in the game except Kev. He probaby is the most accomplished video gamer I know, but he really sucks at video bowling. How does that happen?

But I digress. Miss J still seemed nervous and fidgety. She wrote it off to being dissatisfied with the contest format, but I think she was just plain ol' nervous. At length, her turn to sing arrived. They saved the best for last. She had already knocked the windows out of the joint with her warm up song: Evanescence's Bring Me To Life. For her final song, she did a U-Turn and went with Martina McBride's Independence Day.

Wow.

Polite applause? Forget it. The place erupted.It didn't take long to count the votes.

The three offical judges: Unanimous.

The popular vote: Overwhelming. It wasn't even close.

I watched Miss J as they announced that she was the unanimous selection. The surprise on her face was genuine. See, Miss J is somewhat of a rarity: A beautiful and talented woman who simply doesn't seem to know how beautiful and talented she really is. It's refreshing. And endearing.

The winner was allowed to sing one more song. Miss J selected another from Evanescence - My Immortal - and had Z-Man come up with her while she sang it. It was really something to see and hear. She sang it for him.

So, now it's off to a citywide contest for Miss J. I don't know when or where, but you can bet I'll be there, along with The Fetching Mrs. Crime Dog and as many phriends (and voters) we can bring along.

Stay tuned. Hell, come along! You won't be disappointed.
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