The Soo's Got Talent 2022 Finals Recap (Part 3!!)

We've put this off long enough, let's finally wrap up our finals coverage of this year's The Soo's Got Talent today! Of course, the finals took place at Soo Blaster on October 21st, with the final six performers (all singers with only one playing an instrument too) performing twice for the grand prize: once solo like in prior rounds, and once with local alternative hard rock quintet Handsome Sandwich as their backing band! In our first two finals posts from last week, we looked at each finalist's first performance in this post (along with guests), before checking out the first three finalists' songs with Handsome Sandwich in this post. As before, Passion Video Productions filmed all of these videos for the T.S.G.T. Facebook page, and Handsome Sandwich performed without singer Taylor Emlaw as they had finalists singing instead for the competition, though she did sing with them in the intermission.

It is worth noting that Handsome Sandwich did in fact learn the songs they played with all six finalists, rather than offering their setlist only, which must have been a fun challenge. Thanks to guitarist Mitch Sirie for the confirmation! Following finalists Nanette Garcia (Patti Smith's "Because The Night"), Colin Gasparelli (Edguy's "When A Hero Cries"), and Xavier Pelletier LeBoeuf (Pink's "Raise Your Glass"), the fourth finalist to perform twice was Ali Nisbett, who joined Handsome Sandwich for a cover of Blondie's "X Offender". This is early Blondie when they were at their most punk, which works well! Ali has a great stage presence with the full band backing her up, but and she has good energy, but I'm not quite sure that it's the best pick for her vocal range. Still fun, so give it a look below!

The penultimate finalist was Amanda Phillips, whose cover with Handsome Sandwich was of "The Story" by Brandi Carlile (not Belinda Carlisle). Assuming that contestants picked these songs rather than the judges' choice angle of years past, Amanda picked a winner here, as she delivers a very strong vocal performance of this folk rock favourite, and she seems more confident than ever! Interesting change of pace for Handsome Sandwich too, so give their performance a watch below!

Last but not least for the finalists was Maharlika Joy Servillon, who went way off board like Colin did for a full band cover, this time doing "Faster" by the Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation. Rare when I can evoke Sharon den Adel on the SMS! M.J. sings this one strongly and hits some good high notes in the process, and the band are a good fit here too (Mitch must love getting to play something like this!) Solid closer to the competitive portion of T.S.G.T., so give it a look below!

Guest performances aside, the next video was the drawing of the winners of the door prize & 50/50 draw that night, before host/co-organizer Barbara Rajnovich announced the winners, as chosen by judges Darren MacDonald, Mike Severin, Valerie Powley, and guest Tim Murphy. As you can see in the reveal video embedded below, the winner was.... Amanda Phillips, and after her closing song, that makes a lot of sense! M.J. Servillon and Nanette Garcia took second and third place each, with both receiving gift baskets for placing on the podium. Amanda's first place prize includes $1,000 and recording time with Mike Severin at his studio Muzicare North. Amanda was quoted in this SooToday article by Darren Taylor about the finals, where she noted that she does hope to record an album, and she addressed her past band work (in the Niagara Falls rock cover band Summerfield, she later moved here).

Darren got photos of each finalist and Handsome Sandwich in the article also, so definitely check those out too! Other videos & photos can be seen on the T.S.G.T. Facebook page, but most importantly, $3,608 was raised for the Brain Injury Association of Sault Ste. Marie & Area, so the charitable aims of this event are alive and well, and hopefully another good organization benefits next year! Give the award presentations a watch below, and congratulations to Amanda on winning The Soo's Got Talent!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!