The hallways of Georgian Bay Secondary School (GBSS) were alive with energy last Friday night, as the G.B.S.S. Music Department presented round three of Rockstar: Georgian Bay.   

An enthusiastic crowd of over 200 people came prepared with signs and t-shirts, all in an effort to promote their favourite Georgian Bay rock star.  Only 11 of the original 18 contestants still remain, and knowing that five acts will be cut from the competition this month, the performers clearly stepped forward to deliver an evening of live music.

 “The response to this project has been incredible”, says Patrick Delaney, music teacher at GBSS.  

“Every month we are seeing an audience of over 200 people, and we are also seeing some amazing young teenagers perform on stage.”

This past month, the 11 contestants had the unique opportunity of working with Canadian singer/song-writer Wil who conducted a one-hour workshop on stage performance, nerves, musical delivery and confidence.

On Friday night, Eric Synott opened the show with a driving rendition of You Give Love a Bad Name by Bon Jovi.   

“I felt really good up there this week.  Each month I’m becoming more and more confident’, said Synott.  “The workshop with Wil was inspirational.”

Synott, along with other contestants like Courtney Jonker, Kayleigh-Ann Clegg and Connor Vilaca were all supported by the ‘House Band’; a trio of musicians who act as an accompaniment to all of the solo artists. Delaney, along with Grade 11 bass player Steven Osborne and Grade 11 drummer Scott Gordon performed vigorously throughout the night, giving musical support to each solo singer.

Only two rock bands remain in the competition, and each one had a chance to strut their stuff for round three.  Tomorrow’s No Change unexpectedly changed their song choice at the last minute, while Anytime Craze brought the crowd to their feet with the hit song 1 2 3 4 by Canadian superstar Feist.

The evening also featured outstanding performances by two guitar-slinging duos.  Liam Thompson and Paul Ready delivered a solid rendition of John Mayer’s Love Song for No One while The Fletch Dawgs took the audience on a trip down memory lane with their performance of Stairway to Heaven.   

“This is the song that made me want to learn guitar,” said Rich Fletcher to the crowd as he launched into the ever-famous opening guitar line.

Perhaps the best performance of the evening came from Chelsea Randall as she brought a little Motown to the GBSS stage with Stevie Wonder’s hit song Signed, Sealed, Delivered.  Randall raised the bar for all contestants as she added a brass section and back-up singers/dancers (complete with costumes) to her act.  

“The crowd went wild!” said Randall, who was extremely please with her performance.

Results of Friday’s performances will be announced this Tuesday, with only 6 out of the 11 acts moving on to Round 4.  The date is set for Friday May 23.