Two Oaktrees, Two Contests

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

By Ty Hughes

Lakewood’s original Oaktree Food & Drink Co. is currently promoting a super-exciting $500.00 winner-take-all singing contest every Tuesday night. Oaktree’s longtime karaoke host Chris runs the show with his usual charming wit and humor and continues to attract singers from all over the Puget Sound area.

Tuesdays are absolutely electric at the Lakewood Oaktree Food & Drink Co. Singers of all sizes and shapes, talents and tones take to the stage with high hopes of advancing toward the finals event. Six weeks of qualifying will produce the top 12, two special performers will be chosen weekly to move on in the competition.

I can see after spectating on a Tuesday in June, it is obviously going to be one heck of a finish – these singers’ vocals are jaw-dropping! Just walking in the front door, we came face to face with none other than one of the southend’s more prolific and established singers, Alabama, ready to tear it up on the mic. Which is exactly what he did, twice! First up, he sang Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, and you know that brought the house down.

Julie Rae got up there and performed Watch Me, before Nat sang Walking In Memphis, followed by Big Casino’s (that’s what they call him) Play That Funky Music, which got everybody’s toe tapping.

Andrea chimed in with one of my faves, Stop and Stare, Brian sang Like A Stone, Robert brought the Country with Her Man, Cathy rolled out Lean On Me, Peter did it My Way, and Tina (the man) killed Tina Turner’s The Best. His voice was a dead-ringer for Tina, which shocked the crowd. And then he began dancing and groovin’ and serenading the audience. His hilarious performance had the whole room in tears.

Everyone was thrilling to watch and listen to. Each contestant brought something special to the stage that night much to the delight of a very enthusiastic audience, now gathering around the stage in anticipation.

John and Tristan the bar manager acted as judges for the night. And after some deliberating, it was announced that Tina’s (the man) fun and animated performance had earned him a perfect score and an easy first place finish for the night. For the second contestant to move on in the contest, John and Tristan decided there would be a sing-off between the top two prospects; Andrea and Alabama.

Alabama jumped off with an amazing rendition of Sam Cooke’s Change Is Gonna Come to huge audience applause. Next, Andrea took the mic and nailed Natural Woman, melting the hearts of everyone in the room. She’s got an incredible gift. Andrea was quickly named the winner and was promised a place in the finals event along with Tina and many more yet to be named.

The Oaktree in Lakewood is one of the neighborhood’s most popular karaoke hot spots, one worth checking out for sure. The contest runs every Tuesday and starts around 10pm. Chris has a whole lot of songs to choose from and strangely enough, no books. Instead of songbooks at every table, he’s got a nifty computer station set up where anyone can scroll through his entire library of songs.

“We have just about everything”, he says, proud of his extensive collection. He confessed to buying upwards of 300 new songs every week!

Excellent sound, prompt service, and quality food will have you coming back for more. Not to mention the talent is truly something to behold. Makes for a great night of entertainment.

8011 Steilacoom Blvd., Lakewood, WA (253) 582-2220. And don’t forget that the Oaktree Food & Drink Co. #2, 18299 Pacific Ave. S, Spanaway (253) 847-3818 is running the very same contest on Thursday nights, also a $500.00 winner-take-all.

Plan on spending next Tuesday and/or Thursday at one of the Oaktrees and get qualified to win some serious cashola!