NEW! The 2009-2010 Cabaret Showcase Showdown

Katya Ludmilla Smirnoff-Skyy and Mrs. Trauma Flintstone are proud to announce that the 2010 CABARET SHOWCASE SHOWDOWN has been completed. We are pleased to celebrate the success of our 2009-2010 contestants.

On Sunday, August 1st, we held our final contest at Cafe du Nord. Our judges selected CARA BURGOYNE as the Best New Cabaret Performer. First Runner-up was SHEELAGH MURPHY. Second Runner-up was ERICA RICHARDSON.

Additionally, we polled our audience for their favorite. The AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD was tied by ERICA RICHARDSON and MARK JOHNSON.

Below is archival information about our 2009-2010 series.

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Katya and Trauma hold theme-oriented contests for the best singers/performers. See our schedule below -- most contests are held on the first Sunday of each month. Audience voting along with celebrity voting will determine the winner of each month's category/genre.

There will be eleven category/genre contests. The twelfth contest will be the actual Cabaret Showcase Showdown for the season's top winner, who will receive a cash prize, plus their own solo showcase night at Martuni's.

The categories for the 2010 CABARET SHOWCASE SHOWDOWN are:

- Best Modern Cabaret. This contest was held on Sunday, July 5, 2009 and was won by Allison Lovejoy, with first runner-up Trixxie Carr and second runner-up Eliza Leoni.

- Best Showtunes. This contest was held on Sunday, August 2, 2009 and was won by Erica Richardson, with first runner-up Noel Ferguson and second runners-up Jeffrey Ramos and Janet Roitz.

- Best Original Material. This contest was held on Sunday, September 6, 2009 and was won by Joan Cerqueiro, with first runner-up The Buds (featuring Elise Welch).

- Best Country & Western. This contest was held on Sunday, October 4, 2009 and was won by Cara Burgoyne, with first runner-up Anne Marie Burgoyne and second runner-up Carol Chen.

- Best Live Drag Act. This contest was held on Sunday, December 6, 2009 and was won by Nellie Bear, with first runner-up Virginia Suicide and second runner-up Honey Mahogany.
- Best Female Crooner. This contest was be held on Sunday, January 3, 2010 and was won by Sheelagh Murphy, with first runner-up Anne Marie Burgoyne and second runner-up Miss Sheldra.

- Best Male Crooner. This contest was held on Sunday, February 7, 2010 and was won by Mark Johnson, with first runner-up John Kiyasu and second runner-up Mauricio Villa-Lobos.

- Best International. (foreign-language only). This contest was held on Sunday, March 14, 2010 and was won by Joan Cerqueiro, with first runner-up Michelle Jasso.

- Best R&B/Urban Pop. This contest was held on Sunday, April 4, 2010 and was won by Chave Alexander, with first runner-up Shakey Gibson and second runner-up Whitney Moses.

- Best Comedic. This contest was held on Sunday, May 2, 2010 and was won by McPuzo & Trotsky, with first runner-up Caleb Draper and second runner-up Anne Marie Burgoyne.

- Best Vaudeville/Burlesque/Variety Act. This contest was held on Sunday, June 6 and was won by Avant Garter (aka Lia Metz), with first runner-up Veronica Mannion and second runner-up Oky Sulistio

- Producers' Choice. This was awarded to Anne Marie Burgoyne by the producers of the contest.

-FINAL CONTEST WILL BE HELD ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 2010.

Additionally, Katya and Trauma reserve the right to select a 12th contestant as our 'Producers' Choice,' based on contests during the 2009-2010 series.

RULES AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

1. All contestants must prepare two (2) songs for each contest.

2. Contestants can sing to live piano accompaniment, can sing to their own piano accompaniment, can sing to 'click-track' (CD format only), can sing to guitar or other accompaniment. A capella, though allowed, is not encouraged. Lip-synching is not permitted -- there are numerous contests and venues in SF for our talented performers to enter where lip-synching is the modus operandi.

3. Winners of the 2008-2009 series are not allowed to enter their winning category in the 2009-2010 series. They are welcome to enter other categories.

4. The winner of each genre contest will be invited to compete for the final contest on Sunday, August 1, 2010. In the event that the winner is not available that evening, the first runner-up of that particular genre will be invited to compete.

5. Terms relative to gender are not meant to be restrictive -- we are merely attempting to encourage a wider variety of contestants and to create some 'flow.' In the 2009 series, we had 17 contestants for the singular Best Crooner contest. To ease the size of that contest, we have split it into 'male' and 'female.' Conversely, 'Best Drag Act' implies a wide variety of interpretation for 'drag,' whether you are a drag queen, drag king, faux king, faux queen or any variation on that theme. Read between the lines, folks -- we are looking to promote more live singing by drag artists in SF.

6. Contestants are allowed to enter any number of individual contests. However, for each contest that you win, you will be expected to enter the final contest, singing 2 songs for each contest that you have won.

7. All individual contests will be held at Martuni's. The final contest, however, will be held off-site.

8. There is no individual contest on Sunday, November 1, 2009. That is the night when our 2009 winner, Carly Ozard, will present her cabaret showcase.

9. There is no individual contest on Sunday, July 4, 2010 for the obvious reason.

10. If you want to enter the contest, send an email to Trauma Flintstone (traumaflintstone@gmail.com) or to Katya Smirnoff-Skyy (katyasmirnoffskyy@yahoo.com) so we can reserve a slot for you.