The Soo's Got Talent Semifinals Results, Plus A Live-Streamed Video!!

As you may know, the semifinals of this year's The Soo's Got Talent took place at Soo Blaster on Saturday, and while videos are not (yet?) out for the competitors, we now know the six finalists moving forward to the finals on November 4th! In alphabetical order by last name, the finalists are singers Xavier Pelletier LeBouef, Demoy MacSamuels, Greg McLeod, and Elly McWatters, plus singer/guitarist Storm Rausch and dancer Jophin Saju. The four eliminated competitors (all singers) are Arin Karki, Raedyn Matechuck Levesque, Celeste Rector, and Kristina Sagrak, with Kristina being the only Golden Buzzer recipient to not make the finals. Xavier and Greg were competitors in last year's T.S.G.T., with Xavier now making the finals in back-to-back years, while Greg has bettered his placement from 2022. From what I was told, Greg didn't actually perform on Saturday, so how did he advance?

Reportedly, Greg had to miss the semifinals due to a death in his family, so he was given a spot in the finals as a result (this was announced live at the event, but as I wasn't there, I'll refrain from going into extra details just in case). It's impossible to say if he'd have qualified the normal way, but he's a talented singer, and hopefully he has a strong showing next month! Assuming a similar format to 2022, the six finalists will have two performances on November 4th, one standard and one alongside Mike Haggith & his solo band, which poses some interesting challenges. For one, Jophin Saju is a dancer, not a singer, and his T.S.G.T. videos have him dancing to Indian pop/rap songs. Will Mike & crew learn something along these lines, or will Jophin dance to something more rock-based? Also, will Demoy MacSamuels (whose filmed videos have all been of original songs) get the full band treatment for one, or will he try a cover?

It also remains to be seen how they'll handle guitars with Storm Rausch also playing guitar (note that, when singer/guitarist Colin Gasparelli took part in last year's finals, Handsome Sandwich guitarist Jesse Cook sat out the group's song with him). I will note that finalist Elly McWatters is well acquainted with Mike Haggith & his band, having guested on vocals with them live, let alone being a bandmate of drummer Brandan Glew's in Re:Born, but as far as I can tell, Mike signed on to perform at The Soo's Got Talent well before Elly decided to audition. Will that familiarity give her a leg up on the 4th? Come to Soo Blaster that day to find out! As per event advertising, admission for the finals will still be $22 for adults and $12 for kids, and a start time is to be announced (the semifinals began at 6:30 PM but last year's finals were earlier in the day due to Soo Blaster double booking Afroman that night.)

Between Elly's Re:Born work, Greg's classic rock base, and Xavier's past metal/rock covers in this event, there will be performers who fit Mike Haggith & his band better on paper, but how about them on their own? While the wait continues for official video from The Soo's Got Talent post-round 1, Mike live-streamed his half-hour long set (which was an intermission set between the semifinalists) to his YouTube channel. Oddly, he hasn't posted a description there, and this is regrettably shot vertically, but it's nice to see any video from the last two rounds! On Saturday, Mike's usual local bassist Jacob Quarrell was booked for a separate event, so he was replaced by Far From Fine bassist Matt Fronzi for the evening. In order, their set included "Hot & Cold", "If Ever Comes The Day", "MorningStar", "I've Seen It Before", a cover of Matt's old band Gnaeus' song "Lovers", and "Twist Of Fate".

Part of why only six songs were played is that Mike broke out his storytellers hat to promote his albums, explain his freak knee dislocation at Rotaryfest & recovery from it, and introduce the band/credit Matt & Gnaeus (this was apparently the first time Matt has played "Lovers" on stage in seven years!). Everyone performed strongly, and Mike was more animated than he was at the Northern Vibe Festival in August, including his intense vocals-only work on the closer! I do wish that this video was filmed horizontally, if not closer to the stage, but kudos to Mike for getting this at all, so check it out for yourselves below!

That's all for today, but look for weekend concert previews on the site next! Thanks everyone!