It was six acts in before we got our second male finalist. Christian Jegard stood out, not just because he was male, but because he made good use of the onstage screen, providing his own backing troupe on film as he crooned his cod-romantic opening song. He's a bit of a spoof lounge lizard, there's some Lenny Beige there, maybe also some Marcel Lucont, but his song about having parties in his cramped bedsit clearly won over the crowd and the judges to a slightly lesser extent. He picked up the Audience Award, voted for by online viewers and was awarded second place by the panel.
Annabel Marlow closed the first half with a short set that won her third place. She played keyboards and had a touch of the headline act Rachel Parris about her, boasting strong vocals and a smart line in acerbic humour. She impressed with a song about the complications of dating two graphic designers during lockdown and how they were both pretty much the same as each other. An interesting take on the comedy song concept which left me wanting more.
Another male finalist was Will BF. Odd name, odd performance, basically his entire set was a song about him waking up and having two dead arms. As he said himself "get on board". And if you did he was enjoyable and original, charting how his lack of arm control miraculously made his life better – promotion at work, sex with a Hollywood star, that sort of thing. He didn't get a placing but he showed a talent for strange lyrics and offbeat ideas. I'd be interested to see him again.
On a night when there were no duds, maybe the only slightly disappointing act was Nikola McMurtrie, a fairly conventional guitar-strumming singer. She had a likable routine about the tragedy of doing a DNA test only to find there was nothing notable about her DNA, but her music didn't quite cut it for me and felt a little disjointed. Maybe that was the intention but somehow this was an act that I couldn't get totally on board with. But then that puts McMurtrie in good company. I remember being disappointed with stand-up Lauren Pattison when I saw her in a final and last year she picked up an Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination for Best Show.
Selena Mersey would have certainly won any prizes for nominative determinism as she came from Liverpool. She looked like an old school club singer in her shiny frock but dealt with a very contemporary subject, offering her take on the hot potato of pronouns and their correct use. Her charisma was probably stronger than her material. Better writing might have impressed the judges more but coming on so late on the bill her full-on style did give the audience a welcome jolt.
Peter Bazely had a familiar feel about him, an amiable old school feel. His style was a mix of dark humour and guitar strumming (it looked like another small guitar to me) and after a slow start got the fans onside with, of all things, a song about drinking too much. He bent the formula a bit with some playfulness, when he invited everyone to sing along and then criticised them for getting the words wrong. This felt like another act that would be excellent in a comedy club but maybe the judges on the night were looking for something a bit more distinctive.
And finally there was more full-on comedy from The Gorgeous Diva, who was maybe channeling a little bit of Paul O'Grady in her cabaret-style songs. She certainly had the hair of Lily Savage if not the same level of scabrous wit. If there had been an award for best frock The Gorgeous Diva would have romped home with her cape/angel winged concoction. It certainly ended the competition in style.
Though that wasn't quite the end of the value for money evening, compered by Nick Horseman, who did a great job at soaking up the heckles so the acts didn't have a hard time. As well as a wonderful headline performance from Rachel Parris there was also a performance from 2023 Musical Comedy Awards Best Newcomer, Jo Jo Maberly, who had some impressive musical chops that suggested she could have a career as a serious singer/songwriter if she decided not to play it for laughs.
Picture of Katie Norris by Elina Kansikas
