Steven Graham
Emory’s on Silver Lake’s Sink or Swim open mic talent competition wrapped up last night. It was a ton of fun but being a judge was not easy at all. Each finalist was super talented and did a great job with their performance.
Third place went to Elias Ka’uhan who played the heck out of his ukulele during a great cover of Pearl Jam’s “Better Man”. I really want to see Elias perform again. Picking first and second place wasn’t quite so simple. We had a tie for first between Logan Ulavale and Lou &Don.
The Sink or Swim host, Kelly Shirey, announced the tie breaker would be a show down and each act would perform one more song. Logan went first and performed “Butterfly” by Jason Mraz while Lou &Don closed the tie breaker with “Sweet Caroline” which was accompanied by a line of dancers in front of the stage.
It wasn’t an easy choice, but Logan Ulavale took the grand prize.
I was able to catch up with Logan and talk to him about the competition.
How did you hear about the Sink or Swim competition?
Logan: It was actually my buddy’s mom, she came home when I was over at his place and said “Hey, they’re doing an open mic contest at Emory’s. You should join!” so I did.
Have you ever competed as a musician before?
Logan: Yeah, one other time when I was living in Hawaii over the summer. I won a competition at this bar in Waikiki.
What were your thoughts when you saw the other contestants who made the finals?
Logan: I mean, from a musical stand point they were all pretty good. Some of them had great ideas, just need to work on executing them. But shy of that, as far as talent goes, there was a lot of it last night.
What went through your mind when Kelly announced the first place tie between you and Lou &Don?
Logan: Excitement actually, I mean a win is a win but I find it alot more fun for the musicians and the crowd when the top two have to fight for that first place.
You went first in the tie breaker then Lou &Don went big with “Sweet Caroline” and those dancers. Were you nervous watching them?
Logan: I actually thought they had it because, I mean, they had a solid performance and they had everyone singing and dancing. So a little, yeah (laughter).
What do you think about Emory’s doing something like this for local musicians?
Logan: I think it’s a great Idea. There’s a lot of talent in this area and there isn’t really any places that are that close, aside from the Anchor, that we can play at. Especially with such a great environment. I think it’d be a great idea to keep this going as long as they can. This was only the first month too. Once word starts getting out about this, the talent will just keep pouring on in.
This contest is going to keep going each month. Check with Emory’s for more details.
Here is a video of Logan performing one more song after he found out he won. Host Kelly Shirey couldn’t help but jump on stage for an assist on the song and it was pretty awesome. Check it out.
