Oaktree winners recognized

By Tom Haley and Ty Hughes

Those that made it out to either of the two Oaktree Food & Beverage Company locations on Wednesday, July 28, witnessed some of the Tacoma area’s most incredible singing talent face off in their big Summer Karaoke Contest Finale.

Five hundred bucks were on the line at both locations simultaneously, and available to the sole performer with the hutzpah to rise above the rest and be named Champion.

Chris hosted an exciting finals event at the Lakewood bar, while Richard hosted the Spanaway location finals across town. Both enjoyed an impressive turnout of anxious onlookers to root on their favorites still in the hunt. Just a week earlier, both Oaktree’s paired down their qualifying singers in the Semi-Finals, taking twelve to just six real standouts.

Richard brought back Alina, Dan, Larry, Jessica, Heather, and Willie for the finals. Family and friends filled the room. Before giving their last performance, leaving it to the judging team to determine the long-awaited results, each was asked to sing the very song that had advanced them into the finals that night.

Jessica landed a third place finish with her song, All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You. Apparently eating spoonfuls of honey before a performance will do wonders for your chords. She sounded excellent on Richard’s system, filling the room with a great vibe.

Richard takes pride in his sound system at the Oaktree. His experience has allowed him the ability to create awesome music for everyone using YOUR voice. Thousands of CDs cover the walls around the booth and singers, even the dance floor. This surely helps to bounce every note around the room a little clearer, plus it just looks cool.

So Heather jumps up, admitting that she wanted to use the $500 grand prize to open her ice cream business. Everyone was rooting for her. She finally secured a respectable 2nd place finish and was awarded for her talent and grit throughout the contest.

But it was Dan-The-Man that would take home the big money at the Oaktree 2 in Spanaway! That’s right, Dan snags $500 bucks in cash money for his Dead Or Alive contest winner. Outstanding!

Meanwhile, over at the Oaktree in Lakewood, Tom Haley was furiously scribbling in his reporter’s tablet:

Pulling up to the Oaktree in Lakewood, It seemed the only thing tougher than winning first place tonight would be finding a parking spot anywhere near the building. Although there is ample parking, the place was packed! Their contest finals drew a really good crowd.

The Oaktree has been hosting karaoke for many years and has built up quite a following of karaoke connoisseurs. You know who you are.

Perched against the wall near the stage, I wondered how they would ever choose a winner. Each of the contestants were incredible!

Alabama was nearby, preparing to take the stage. He is such a seasoned professional, even taking time to smile for a photo before blowing the place away with his powerful voice.

Eugene is a great performer and so much fun to watch. He literally danced his way across the floor and right into first place! Alabama took second, and Johnny took third.

Johnny loves to sing Country. He has a sound reminiscent of Brian McKnight, literally stopping you in your tracks to hear every perfectly phrased verse. Such a pure voice, I haven’t heard in a long time and easily would have voted him the winner. He could sing the phonebook and it would sound just as fantastic.

Although the talent was rich, it is never a coincidence when the finalists sound like pros. No matter how good a vocalist might be, they are nothing without a great KJ host who knows how to work the system. I was pleased to see that Chris diligently gave every person the same attention to detail as the one before. Too many times have I seen a great singer lose his audience due to a lazy host.

Chris’ down-to-earth demeanor and drive for perfection caused me to realize that after all these years, the Oaktree remains a perfect example of excellence and consistency. Way to go guys!

Congratulations to not only each individual singer that participated, but also to the hosts, the audience members, judges, waitstaff, and management for an iconic event to make history and hopefully the future as well. Way to go everybody!

Come out and spend an evening of karaoke with Chris at the Oaktree Lakewood any night of the week (8011 Steilacoom Blvd, Lakewood (253) 582-2220).

Richard holds court at the Oaktree 2, where they also feature karaoke 7 nights a week, (18299 Pacific Ave, Spanaway (253) 847-3818). Check out their Web page at www.theoaktrees.com for more information.