The latest addition to the already hysterically paced
AI, the
Lip Sync competition, brought a range of talent and creativity to the proceedings that could not have been prophesied by NostraStanUs and left all in attendance gasping for the air that their peals of laughter had expelled from their lungs.
Someone had to go first; who could it be (now)? Who else?
Edie, with a rollicking rendition of the Men Without Hats classic
"Safety Dance" complete with....the safety dance. Next up,
Stan, with an improbable interpretation of Taylor Swift's romantic story of true love
"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together." This assault on everyone's musical sensibilities was followed by The Apartment Co-Founder
Reef, who provided a Sybil-like interpretation of the timeless Sonny & Cher duet
"I Got You Babe." Heimsch reached even farther back into the rock 'n roll archives for the doo-wop classic
"Runaround Sue" by Dion & The Belmonts, although no Belmonts were in evidence. We then saw
Kathi ratchet up the intensity with George Thorogood's killer classic
"One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" only to be foiled by a balky internet that forced her to regroup, restart and still rock the house.
Wally, ever the reluctant warrior, reached deep into his oeuvre and, festooned in fedora and wielding a tennis racket cum Gibson Les Paul, soared through The Allman Brothers'
"One Way Out" as a only a guitar hero could.
Kate, fortified by several gallons of Mollydooker Shiraz, strode around the room to The Proclaimers'
"I'm Gonna Be (500 miles)", while her roommate,
Sean, wryly (?) announcing her choice as "a song for my generation" ripped through LMFAO's (featuring Lil Jon)
"Shots!" Nora, expressing deeply held feelings that can only be shared among close friends, emoted Cee Lo Green's heart felt relationship tone poem
"Fuck You." She was followed by the dark introspection of daughter
Emma rocking the coveted AI-XVII hoodie in the dead of summer, who shocked and awed with a pitch perfect take of EMMAnem's
"Lose Yourself." Tony, sporting home made props and the AI-XVIII bucket hat, told us how to stay true to the
AI and
"Stand By Your Man (Stan)" in an inspired and perspired take on the Tammy Wynette classic.
Gordon brought the show to a stunningly hilarious conclusion with a 'piano-sync,' involving formal
AI wear and printed program notes. He then demonstrated his virtuosity with a performance of John Cage's inaudible classic:
4'33". Smugly and correctly anticipating an encore,
Gordon wrapped up the proceedings with the equally sonic
"Sphinxes from Carnaval" by Robert Schumann.
All participants were then given the opportunity to vote anonymously via the internets for their 3 favorite performances. A first place vote was worth 3 points; a second place vote, two; and a third place vote, one point. All 12 performers voted. As the votes poured in, it quickly became apparent that the race for the coveted
Lip Sync trophy was going to be a pitched (if not, off-pitch) battle between
Sean and
Emma. Emma received 6 first place votes to
Sean's 4; no one else received more than 1. Interestingly, just as no MLB player has ever been unanimously elected to the Hall of Fame, both
Emma & Sean were left off of two ballots entirely. Still, they were the only performers whose vote tally reached double digits, in fact they both soared over the 20 point mark. When it was all said and done however,
Sean's 22 points fell 4 points short of
Emmanem's 26 and thus the
winner and recipient of the first AI Lip Sync trophy is EMMA!!
Postscript: We apologize for the inordinate amount of time it took to conduct the balloting for this highly prized award, but we are in Florida after all.
