Prizes

Over $80,000 in prizes to offered at regional and national level including airfare, hotel, and cash to compete at KWC in Finland in September 2009. Over 20,000 euros in prizes at KWC.

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Karaoke World Championships USA 2009 Results

What a great competition! Our 2009 KWCUSA Champions are Rebecca Armstrong from Tennessee and Brian Scott from New Mexico. The weather was warm, the competition was hot, and thousands of Kings Island visitors stopped in their tracks during the 3 day competition to see the incredible performances.

Day 1 was opening day, with every singer getting the chance to do at least one song on the stage. This was a great opportunity for everyone see and hear what being on the stage was like before they had to compete. Everyone took advantage of the time to get to know each other. Near the end of the day we took the group picture they will treasure forever.

What a great group of people! Be sure to check out the contenstant's bios and also information on our judges. They did a superb job and were almost as excited to be there as the contestants were.

Day 2--the competition begins. What was each singer's strategy? Were they going to pick THE song or sing just well enough to get through to the semifinals? Who could tell? They were absolutely great and drew crowds all day as 30,000 plus visitors came by 3 or 4 times each day. It's all about location and everyone comes through the show at least a couple of times per day. Being on an outdoor stage was a new experience for almost all of the singers. But who would have guessed. They all looked like pros. I'd put them up against all the American Idols.

Semifinals now narrowed down to the Top 20 (ten males and ten females) and the game was really on. While everyone in the park battles with their stomachs over rides, our competitors are battling stomach nerves as they wait their turn to get themselves into the Saturday Finals. You notice as the first singers start their performance they have raised the bar. Yep a few were holding out and who knows, maybe they still are. The last hour was a lightning round as we found ourselves running short on time. But with the great help of KWCUSA staff and the singers we got through with two minutes to spare. Now everyone is waiting for the judges to tally their scores and for the announcement. Who is going to the finals?
The announcement comes and the top five are set. Everyone is so excited. Even those that didn't make it were grateful for the opportunity and overwhelmed by the experience.

Day 3 Finals and who is going to be the KWCUSA champion? The top five males and the top five females prepare for 12:30 pm start for the ladies and 3:30pm start for the gentlemen. So the ladies start off with Mariah Cross from New London, Ohio. She comes to the stage, the music starts, and where did that voice come from? Man did she bring it. With the quality of a seasoned Broadway performer out comes "Don't Rain on My Parade."

And little did we know this was just the start. Richia punches out "Broken Wing" like you never heard. The crowds started gathering with Mariah and continue to grow as Anthea Mae Neri takes the microphone and performs "Don't Cry Out Loud", the perfect voice for the perfect song. Feeling of excitement over everyone is just thick, so thick it overwhelms you. As President of KWCUSA, I was so consumed with pride and happiness for these singers. Now we are down to the last two of the ladies, Tatum Harvey from New York sings and "Natural Woman" and Rebecca Armstrong brings her umbrella to perform "It's Raining Men". These two cap off an absolutely electric performance by the top five ladies, and I couldn't be happier for every one of them.

Men's finals kicked off with Jerry Griffin from New York belting out "Angels" by Robbie Williams and showing why he is in the top five. Following him up the stage with some assistance, wheel chair and all, was Freddie Gaulman with "At This Moment". You see on the Monday before the competition, Freddie had to have his toe removed due to an infection. But here he was vying to be champion and nothing was going to stop him. Next up was Gary Byrd with the tune "Loving You Too Long" featuring his soulful bass voice. Alex Peak jumped up to challenge them all. As last year's champion, he was out for blood with "Play Something Country."