Capital Slam Finals

The night was finally here. The night that hummed with anticipation.

The night when Capital Slam would crown its 2013 Champion and we would all find out who would make up the team that would represent Ottawa at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in Montreal.

As Ruthanne Edward – the Slam Master for the evening – gave the judges their last instructions and DJ PrufRock lowered the music so that the host, Ikenna Onyegbula, AKA OpenSecret, could address the crowd, everyone in attendance knew they were in for something special.

The show started with three guest poets, there to share and warm up the crowd. The first was Emma Blanche of the Ottawa Youth Poetry Slam team. The next was ‘new find’ Abby Kassirer. The last was Ottawa Slam legend, Brandon Wint. All three – whether fresh voiced or veteran presence, helped make the room come alive with energy.

Then came the ritual… the sacrificial poetic blood. For the first round it was Shaun Sullivan, who was the runner up in the first CapSLam semi-final of 2013.

Then Ikenna took to the magic hat that would help decide the finalists’ fate. First out of the hat… regular season champ, Gavin Russell.

7.0 8.5 9.0 9.3 9.5 – 26.8

Right away, people could tell that there was an outlier. Would the low-ball judge stay true to those scores, or would there be an adjustment… what slammers call score creep?

Next up was D-Lightfull (of note… the finals were a perfect split of male and female voices, for the first time in CapSlam history).

8.0 9.0 9.1 9.3 9.5 – 27.4 (and NEARLY a time penalty… she went 3:08)

D-Lightfull took the lead, but there were still 6 more poets to go.

Next out of the hat was Kimbit.

8.0 8.5 8.8 9.0 9.4 – 26.3

The judges were staying consistent so far.

Rounding out the first half of the first round was Rusty Priske.

8.0 9.2 9.4 9.5 9.6 – 28.1

The judges were in agreement with the audience about the personal piece Rusty did. He took the lead.

Brad Morden was next up.

8.4 8.5 8.7 9.1 9.5 – 26.3

Next up was Bruce Narbaitz.

8.0 8.7 9.0 9.5 9.5 – 27.2

A strong, ‘in-the-mic’ score for Bruce.

The penultimate first round poet was V.

8.9 9.0 9.3 9.3 TEN – 27.6

V vaulted into second place while grabbing the first ten of the night.

The first round finished off with Candice Bruchhaeuser.

8.0 8.5 9.0 9.2 9.4 – 26.7

RANKINGS AFTER ROUND ONE

1. Rusty Priske – 28.1
2. V – 27.6
3. D-Lightfull – 27.4
4. Bruce Narbaitz – 27.2
5. Gavin Russell – 26.8
6. Candice Bruchhaeuser – 26.7
7T. Brad Morden – 26.3
7T. Kimbit – 26.3

Then came a break as the poets scrambled to get ready for round 2 and the crowd buzzed about what they saw in round 1. Rusty was the first round surprise, but could he hold it? Who would be the buzz of round 2?

Round 2 kicked off with another sac… the runner up from the other CapSLam semi-final, Kay’la Fraser. Hoo-rah.

First out of the hat for round 2… Candice Bruchhaeuser!

8.5 8.8 8.8 9.2 9.4 – 26.8

That would probably keep Candice our of the 3rd round, but she certainly had nothing to be ashamed of as earlier she had been named the CapSlam Rookie of the Year for 2013.

Next up was V.

8.9 9.0 9.0 9.3 TEN – 27.3

She stumbled a little bit in the poem but she recovered nicely.

Next was Gavin Russell (who had the mathematically worst draw of the night).

8.9 8.9 9.4 9.5 9.8 – 27.8

A nice bump up for Gavin!

He was followed by Kimbit.

8.7 9.0 9.0 9.5 9.5 – 27.5

A good bump from ROund one, but it didn’t look like it would be enough. Nothing is certain however…

Next was Bruce Narbaitz… and his dance party.

9.5 9.6 9.6 TEN TEN – 29.2

Who was going to be the talk of Round 2… and the whole slam? Bruce Narbaitz. Wow.

Rusty Priske drew the unenviable task of following that.

8.5 8.9 9.0 9.3 9.5 – 27.2

Quite a slip from his first round. Could he hold on?

Next was D-Lightfull.

9.0 9.1 9.4 9.5 9.6 – 28.0

Huge! second highest score of the round and third highest of the night (thus far).

Brad Morden wrapped up the round.

9.0 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.8 – 27.9

A very good score, but was it enough?

Top five went onto the third round.

After two…

1. Bruce Narbaitz – 56.4
2. D-Lightfull – 55.4
3. Rusty Priske – 55.3
4. V – 54.9
5. Gavin Russell – 54.6
6. Brad Morden – 54.2
7. Kimbit – 53.8
8. Candice Bruchhaeuser – 53.5

So we knew who the team was, but who would be the champ? (And who would be the alt?)

First up – Bruce Narbaitz.

9.0 9.5 9.5 9.5 9.7 – 28.5

Still buzzing over the Bruce Dance Party – the crowd still loved them some Dancing Flower!

Next was V… who blasted the roof off!

9.1 9.5 9.6 9.6 9.8 – 28.7

She was followed by Gavin Russell.

8.9 9.3 9.5 9.5 TEN – 28.3

The penultimate poet was… Rusty Priske…

Uh-oh. Landmine time. Rusty lost his poem. He got it back but the damage was big.

8.0 8.3 8.7 9.0 9.4 – 26.0

The last poet up was D-Lightfull.

8.5 9.0 9.3 9.5 9.5 – 27.8

While the ‘scores were being tabulated’, Ikenna invited a special guest up to perform… Patricia Staples making her live poetry debut!

Standing ovation!

Then came the team announcement…

The team alt would be the person who holds the record for the most CapSlam team appearances with FIVE (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013)… and professional team alternate… Rusty Priske!

In FOURTH – the 2012 Ottawa Youth Poetry Slam Champion and the 2013 Capital Slam regular season champ and now first time CapSlam team member, Gavin Russell!

In THIRD – 2010 Urban Legends team member and now first time CapSlam team member, D-Lightfull!

In SECOND – 2012 Capital Slam Rookie of the Year and 2012 CapSlam team member, V!

And now, the 2013 Champion! He was the 2011 Rookie of the Year and a member of the 2011 CapSlam team… BRUCE NARBAITZ!

Amazing team! Things are going to be hot in Montreal this November!

There is no Capital Poetry Collective show on June 8th, but on June 15th hit the Mercury Lounge for former CPC Director Nathanael Larochette playing with The Night Watch at their CD Release Party!!

CPC Summer Slam #1

We had our first Summer Slam last night and congrats to DMP for winning our first $100 prize!

All summer long we will be giving out $100 at these ‘special format’ shows. We are going to be keeping the results…. why?

That will be our little secret for now… more to come as the summer rolls on!

The special format is that there are 3 rounds. The first round is 3 minute poems, followed by a 1 minute lightning round, and a third round, also 3 minutes.

We had 8 slammers and the scores went like this…

AFTER ROUND ONE

1. PrufRock – 28.5
2. Rhianna – 28.4
3. DMP – 27.2
4. Benoit Christie – 27.1
5. Sean O’Gorman – 26.0
6. CauseMo – 25.9
7. Kimbit – 25.3
8. Panos – 22.0

AFTER ROUND 2 (The Lightning Round!)

1. DMP – 53.6
2. PrufRock – 52.9
3. Rhianna – 52.8
4. CauseMo – 52.2
5. Sean O’Gorman – 51.9
6. Benoit Christie – 51.1
7. Kimbit – 50.4
8. Panos – 46.3

AFTER THE FINAL ROUND

1. DMP – 81.5
2. Rhianna – 80.5
3. PrufRock – 79.8
4. CauseMo – 79.5
5. Sean O’Gorman – 79.1
6. Kimbit – 76.7
7. Benoit Christie – 76.2
8. Panos – 71.1

Again, congrats to DMP!

Also, notice when he took his lead… DON’T SLEEP ON THE LIGHTNING ROUND, POETS!!

Also notice a newcomer to our slam – Rhianna! She proved she can throw down with some of Ottawa’s top slammers. Keep coming out to slam!

Remember, next Saturday is CPC Presents: Once Upon A Slam!

Then, on June 1st, the CAPITAL SLAM FINALS at the Alumni Auditorium!

OH MY GOD!

Who will make the CapSlam team?

Who will be the CapSlam Champ?

V?

Gavin Russell?

Rusty Priske?

Kimbit?

Bruce Narbaitz?

Brad Morden?

D-Lightfull?

Candice Bruchhaeuser?

Come out June 1st and find out!

Hosted by OpenSecret! Tunes by DJ PrufRock Shadowrunner! Performances by Kay’la Fraser and Shaun Sullivan!

Do not miss it!

CapSlam Video!

So who could you have seen if you were at the CapSlam semi-finals this past saturday?

Check out these great poems by Missaralee, Gavin Russell, Kay’la Fraser and (of all people) Charles Hamilton!

Capital Slam Semi-Finals #2 RECAP

I guess word got out about how amazing the first CapSlam Semi-Final was, because the Merc was PACKED!

The momentum is building, building, BUILDING and you KNOW the FInals at the Alumni Auditorium on June 1st are going to be OFF THE HOOK!

But who will be in the finals? We know who four are, but tonight we learned who the other four will be!

We started with an open mic, and a star-studded affair it was! Kicking the poetry show off with some poetry was a multi time CapSlam semi-finalsit Mia Morgan! Then came a finalist from Urban Legends last year, D-Zaster! Then came a member of the 2012 Urban Legends team and the 2011 Kingston team, ArRay-of-WoRds! Then came 2011 CapSlam team member, Sean O’Gorman! Then we had an impromptu team piece by 2012 Urban Legends team member Ali Alikhani and 2012 Capital Slam team member, V! We rounded off the open mic with a surprise visit by multi-time SASKATOON team member, former Spoken WOrd Canada National Director and 2012 CFSW DIrector and (at least according to Rusty) the Mayor of Saskatoon… Charles Hamilton!

Wow.

And we hadn’t even reached the slam yet.

We had DJ PrufRock spinning the tunes… Rusty Priske was leading the charge… Artemysia and Michel handling the volunteer duties… Ruthanne was doing the math… and eight poets fighting for a spot in the 2013 CapSlam Finals!

But you can’t have a slam without a little blood, so Loh El opened his poetic vein, or at least he tried. He also taught the poets about time penalties as he went 3:48 and snagged a 2 point penalty for a 25.8.

So who was the first poet out of the hat? Ali Islam. 8.6 8.7 8.9 9.2 9.5 – 26.8 Not the best place to draw. The judges were fairly consistent on the night but drawing first is always a tough place to be.

Next up was Bruce Narbaitz who showed that you can still dominate when drawing early as he raised the bar all the way to 28.5! 9.0 9.2 9.5 9.8 TEN.

Missaralee had to follow that big act and gave us a new piece (I am pretty sure, anyway). 8.5 8.7 8.7 8.8 8.9 – 26.2

The first half of the first round was capped by CPC Director, Brad Morden, who also rocked a new poem! 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.6 9.9 – 28.3!

Next was one of the exciting surprises of the season, Candice Bruchhauser! 9.0 9.0 9.1 9.3 9.7 – 27.4… right in the middle so far.

She was followed by Dovi. Dovi has a lot of fans among the poets but he also hasn’t really concentrated on slam. Both of those things were shown as he dropped a hot piece… that went 4:09. 8.0 8.8 9.0 9.2 9.2 – 24.0 after the 3 point penalty.

Gavin Russell, the seasonal points champ, decided that the bar should be set just a touch higher. 9.1 9.5 9.5 9.8 9.8 – 28.8!

Kay’la Fraser finished off the first round with style, grabbing one of those top 4 spots! 8.5 9.3 9.3 9.5 9.5 – 28.1!

After one round the scores sat like this:

1. Gavin Russell – 28.8
2. Bruce Narbaitz – 28.5
3. Brad Morden – 28.3
4. Kay’la Fraser – 28.1
5. Candice Bruchhaeuser – 27.4
6. Ali Islam – 26.8
7. Missaralee – 26.2
8. Dovi – 24.0

There was a bit of a gap between 4th and 5th, but not an insurmountable one under the right circumstances… and this competition was far from over!

After the break, the judges were reset by another sacrificial poet… this time it was Youth scene sensation, Sarah Ruszala! She did an admirable sac job and scored a 25.7.

It was been a few years since we did reverse order, but you couldn’t tell that by the first two poets on stage. First out of the hat was Kay’la Fraser! 8.7 9.1 9.2 9.2 9.6 – 27.5

Then, as implied, Gavin Russell was up. He had the top mark coming into the round… could he hold it? 9.2 9.7 9.7 9.8 9.9 – 29.2!

Next out of the hat was Bruce Narbaitz (who tied for the worst mathematical draw with Ali Islam) – 9.0 9.5 9.5 9.7 TEN – 28.7!

Ali Islam was next up – 8.7 8.8 9.0 9.3 9.5 – 27.1

Brad Morden, who also had the balanced draw, like Kay’la and Gavin, came strong – 9.2 9.3 9.3 9.3 9.7 – 27.9

Dovi kept under the time limit this round (though I am not sure he was actually finished…) 8.7 8.8 8.8 8.9 8.9 – 26.5

Missaralee rocked the stage next – 9.1 9.1 9.4 9.5 TEN (the only non-Bruce ten of the night) – 28.0!

Candice Bruchhaeuser (who get the mathematically best draw of the night) rounded off the slam with a BIG poem – 9.0 9.2 9.6 9.8 9.9 – 28.6!

So who won?

Who made it to the finals?

FINAL RESULTS:

1. Gavin Russell – 58.0
2. Bruce Narbaitz – 57.2
3. Brad Morden – 56.2
4. Candice Bruchhaeuser – 56.0
5. Kay’la Fraser – 55.6
6. Missaralee – 54.2
7. Ali Islam – 53.9
8. Dovi – 50.5

Which gives us ALL EIGHT CAPITAL SLAM FINALISTS FOR 2013!

CANDICE BRUCHHAEUSER
D-LIGHTFULL
KIMBIT
BRAD MORDEN
BRUCE NARBAITZ
RUSTY PRISKE
GAVIN RUSSELL
V

Wow. That line-up is CRAZY!

You KNOW that the semi-finals were hot. You KNOW that the finals are going to be even BIGGER!

Mark the calendar – JUNE 1st at the ALUMNI AUDITORIUM at the University of Ottawa – doors at 6:30.

Boom

CAPITAL SLAM SEMI-FINALIST SPOTLIGHT: DOVI

Our final Semi-Finlist spotlight is on DOVI!

Dovi has apepared here and there over the past couple of years. He is a poet’s poet where the people who seem most affected my his words are the other people who make words their life.

In the words of an unnamed poet, “Do not sleep on Dovi!”

Here is Dovi on the Cap Slam stage.

CAPITAL SLAM SEMI-FINALIST SPOTLIGHT: MISSARALEE

Our next CapSlam semi-finalist spotlight is on one of the top newcomers of the year, Missaralee!

I stumbled across Missaralee’s poetry blog in late summer of 2012 where she had decelared her intention to become a slammer! It seeems that she was a poet and a fan of the genre and wanted to get in on the fun…

…and did she ever! Missaralee was a very active participant in the CapSlam and Ottawa Spoken Word scene all year. She created new fans whenever she performed and got some big success in her first year, as she was one of the top 4 finalists at the VERSe Ottawa Women’s Slam CHampionships, and scored a feature at VERSeFest as a result.

Here is Missaralee’s blog!

And here she is on the Capital Slam stage!

CAPITAL SLAM SEMI-FINALIST SPOTLIGHT: BRAD MORDEN

Our next CapSlam semi-finalist spotlight falls on the current CPC Director, Brad Morden!

Brad first appeared on a CapSlam stage during the 2009 season (I think…) and he made it to Finals that year. He has since been on three National Slam teams… the ‘Last Chance’ team in 2010, and the Urban Legends teams in 2011 and 2012.

Brad is also a very talented and lauded musician, and has toured overseas with both his words and his ukelele. He has been in a number of groups, but the best known in our circles is Atomic Wednesday with Ian Keteku.

Brad has been on the Tree board, the Spoken Word Canada board, the City of Ottawa’s Arts Advisory Committee, and has been the Capital Poetry Collective Director for the past two seasons.

Here is Brad playing his uke and singing (accompanied by Amelia Leclair)

Here is Brad on the CapSlam stage.