The Soo's Got Talent Round #1 Recap & Results!!

Let's continue our belated coverage of The Soo's Got Talent today, especially as the second round is tonight at Soo Blaster and I don't want to fall any further behind! After the auditions at the Great Northern Road Wacky Wings over the weekend of September 9th, sixteen qualifiers were sent through to the first round at Soo Blaster on the 15th to battle for one of twelve spots in round 2 taking place tonight, and while not everyone was filmed for the T.S.G.T. Facebook page, what can you see from round #1? All are singers unless otherwise stated. The first video sees dancer Jophin Saju performing to multiple Indian pop/rap songs, followed by 2022 finalist Xavier Pelletier LeBouef covering Adele's "Rolling In The Deep", in Xavier's first video appearance of this year's cycle after not being filmed at the auditions despite getting one of the four Golden Buzzers allocated for this year to guarantee a spot in the semifinals.

Also not filmed at the auditions was Elizabeth Budge, who covered David Guetta & Sia's "Titanium" in round #1. A different filmer (or at least in a different locale) filmed the next videos, all mercifully horizontal, and this time grouping competitors together rather than individual uploads. The first of these videos features three more performers who didn't get audition videos, namely Stan Fera (George Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today"), Celeste Rector (Everyone Loves An Outlaw's "I See Red"), and Greg McLeod (The Greg Kihn Band's "The Break-Up Song"). The next video features Demoy MacSamuels performing another original song (possibly named "Welcome To The Dark Side"), ex-Re:Born frontwoman & Golden Buzzer recipient Elly McWatters (Journey's "Separate Ways [World's Apart]), and Jophin Shaju dancing to more upbeat Indian artists. 

While Journey proper aren't a full hard rock band, "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" is a hard rock song, so we can embed that one here while staying on topic, and Elly's performance there was predictably strong given her established vocal abilities! Of course, as a Golden Buzzer winner, she was not at danger of elimination on the 15th, but she still proved herself worthy of the second round, as did Demoy and Jophin. Check everything out below!

The next three-act video features a reprise of drummer Teagan Krauter Maki covering Hoobastank's "The Reason". I can't speak for all acts, as not everyone was filmed at the audition level, but Teagan was, and to me, repeating the same song feels like a misstep despite his obvious drumming talent. If I was judging, I'd have encouraged him to play something more rocking/up tempo in round #1 anyway, as ballads usually aren't drummer showcases. Hopefully he keeps at it, good drummers are always in demand! This video also features Storm Rausch (who was also filmed at audition level and got the Golden Buzzer for her efforts) playing an original song named "Reminder" on vocals & guitar, and Arin Karki (not filmed for the auditions) covering Billy Joel's "Vienna". Good stuff all around, and Arin caught me off guard in a good way with his voice, so check these out at this link! Sadly, I can't embed it here, as copyrighted audio (likely "The Reason") was flagged by Facebook.

All remaining first round acts except Brooklyn Coghill were featured in the last round #1 video, and I have no clue why footage of Brooklyn's performance never made their way to The Soo's Got Talent's Facebook page. The video features Golden Buzzer recipient Kristina Sagrak (Loren Allred's "Never Enough"), Steven Jensen (John Fogerty's "Centerfield"), Raedyn Matechuck Levesque (Bruno Mars' "When I Was Your Man"), and Christopher Halliday (Cyndi Lauper's "True Colours"). When it came to announce the round #2 qualifiers, judges Darren MacDonald, Mike Severin, and Valerie Powley sent all acts through to tonight's event except Brooklyn, Elizabeth, Steven, and Teagan, so if you liked what you saw from the other twelve acts, come to Soo Blaster tonight for all of the action! Everything takes place tonight at 6:30 PM, where we will learn the eight competitors that will advance to the semifinals on Saturday, October 21st.

The four Golden Buzzer recipients (Elly, Kristina, Storm, and Xavier) are all guaranteed semifinal spots, and are exempt from elimination no matter what tonight, so only half of Arin, Celeste, Christopher, Demoy, Greg, Jophin, Raedyn, and Stan will join them next month. Come on out to find out what happens! Admission is $22 aside from kids 12 and under ($12). Visit the above links for more on The Soo's Got Talent so far, and we'll hopefully dive into the second round action in a more timely fashion! Thanks everyone, and good luck tonight!