Holly Walter won the ‘Voice of Baltimore 2013’ competition with this performance at Padonia Station July 15. Leroy Laws was the male winner. (VoB Photo/Debi Fowler)

For Walter, victory was bittersweet:
it was her third consecutive year
in the Padonia Station contest

FIRST-EVER DUAL MALE/FEMALE WINNERS
 
By Sara Heilman
 
As her mother claims, Holly Walter is a “late bloomer.”

After entering Padonia Station’s “Voice of Baltimore” competition for a third consecutive year, Walter was finally crowned 2013’s female winner. She took the grand prize of $300, along with a recording session at Sheffield Institute, and landed a guest spot on WNST Sports Radio (AM1570).

Leroy Laws was named the first-ever male winner of the contest. It was the first time the popular Timonium sports bar and restaurant featured both a male and female winner.

According to Debi Fowler — who has been organizing the contest at Padonia Station for the entire 12 years of its existence — the change was made because male vocalists are limited when it comes to singing songs originally done by women. Fowler explained that male performers don’t have as many options when it comes to spicing-up their appearance.

Having dual winners this year was argued to be both a good and bad change to the competition.

According to Walter, the contest is not about money or winning, but rather about charity. Its primary purpose is to raise money for the Ed Block Courage Award Foundation, a charity for abused, neglected and at-risk children.

Walter agreed with Fowler, saying that the male performers do not get the same recognition as the women because females have more vocal range and that men are limited to the appearance they can present when on stage.

On the other side of the issue, former contestant and one of this year’s judges, Kim Yates of Kim’s Krypt, disliked the dual-winner change to the competition. Yates claims that “the sex of a person makes no difference when it comes to talent” and that “if you can ‘rock’ the stage and have it all, [then] you will win.”

Walter and Laws certainly rocked the stage on the final night July 15. All competitors were required to sing two songs that night, being judged on their appearance, performance and vocals.

Laws returned to the contest after taking two years off to enjoy the karaoke scene. He said that after singing in the competition for a few consecutive years, he realized some of the judges have certain expectations of performers, which is why he took the break.

Leroy Laws Jr. is the first-ever male winner of Padonia Station’s annual ‘Voice of Baltimore’ singing competition.

However, he came back in full swing when he sang the soul song, “Me and Mrs. Jones,” and then showed his versatility with Elton John’s “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.”

Though Laws took first place in the contest among the men, he says that even if he hadn’t won, he would have been grateful either way because “you win some and you lose some.”

This very humble 59-year-old truck driver from Baltimore City has most certainly paid his dues. Laws is currently in the Karaoke World Championship: he took first place in the State of Maryland and will compete against contestants from the rest of the East Coast in Centreville, Va. this month.

Walter, who at 23 is a bartender and lead singer of the band Prestige Worldwide, took her mother’s advice before her performance at Padonia Station and “[left] it all on the stage.”

For her first performance, she did a self-claimed “sexified” version of Barracuda, the song made famous by the rock band Heart.

However, Walter’s attire — slit jeans and a tanktop — were more rocker-chick than promiscuous. With a brief swaying of her hips at the start of the song, she relied on her voice and talent to get the judges’ attention. It was no surprise that she put on quite a show, not letting an ounce of fear take over as she stepped in front of the crowd.

She returned in an evening gown for her second performance of the night — an elegant outfit in stark contrast to the slit jeans and tanktop she wore earlier, and the polar opposite of the Daisy Dukes she wore in her opening performance in the 2012 competition.

During the WNST interview with Walter, one of the program’s hosts, Paul Mittermeier — who is publicity director for the Ed Block Courage Award Foundation and also served as the contest’s master of ceremonies — noted that her performances have “matured” over the years. Walter claims that this could be due to her gift of channeling her nervousness and energy into the song, and bringing forth the emotion and meaning it relates.

Walter’s involvement in theater as a kid could also account for the confidence she shows on stage, which she explained is just another part that had to be acted out.

Holly Walter, center, performs with band Prestige Worldwide.

Walter said that singers “shouldn’t take on more than they can handle” and she obviously knew she had this song in the bag.

As with any competition, the pettiness and drama of other contestants never seems to cease. According to one competitor, who placed among the top three in the competition, Walter “stole” her song.

However, Walter insists that “no one stole anyone’s song” and that she discussed a list of songs with that contestant during the preliminary round.

For those not familiar with the rules of the contest, singers that make it to the final round must submit their song choices on a “first come, first served” basis. Walter submitted her song choices prior to the complainant, which is just pure strategy. After all, it is a competition.

Taking second place among the women in the contest was Courtney Brewer. Third was Crystal Freeman.

For the men, Andy Felicitas took second place and Bruce Gavin took third. These winners received a monetary reward in accordance with where they placed in the competition, second-placed winners getting $150 and third-place finishers taking home $50.

To some onlookers, the performers who placed in the competition came as somewhat of a surprise. When asked whether or not the contest is “fair game” for all contestants, judge and former contestant Gina Barilone told Voice of Baltimore that there could be “favoritism” among the judging panel.

Contest judge Gina Barilone, a/k/a Mzz B, performs in concert.

Another judge told VoB that oftentimes judges who are also band singers themselves are jealous of contestants who perform in their style, and hence, consciously or unconsciously, criticize them harshly and give them lower scores.

However, Barilone insists the performers should be judged on talent alone and says she tries to keep her personal preferences out of her judgements.

According to Fowler, the judges of the Voice of Baltimore contest volunteer their time, and the majority are musically oriented, whether they are from local bands or have been contestants or winners of the contest in the past.

Fowler also explained that despite complaints about the new rules the competition will remain the same next year, with both a male and female winner, unless better ideas come along in the interim.

The popular sports bar/restaurant in Timonium began running annual singing competitions to benefit abused children in 2002. This year’s contest was the second designated as “Voice of Baltimore.”

Winners were previously named “Baltimore Idol”; however the Fox Network mandated that the local competition not use the name “Idol” for its winners and so the title was changed to “Voice of Baltimore” in 2012.

Be sure to catch the next contest — the 13th annual — at Padonia Station in Summer 2014.
 
Sara Heilman is a lead singer with the Harford County country rock band Denim N Lace, which she joined after placing in the 2012 finals of the “Voice of Baltimore” vocal competition at Padonia Station. She covers music and other subjects for Voice of Baltimore. (To check out her full VoB bio  click here  then scroll down).
 
sheilm1@students.towson.edu
 
CHECK OUT “VOICE OF BALTIMORE 2013” WINNERS HOLLY WALTER AND LEROY LAWS ON WNST-1570AM’S “CATCH THE BUZZ” WITH CO-HOSTS PAUL MITTERMEIER AND DAMON “BULLDOG” YAFFE:  click here  (The long-running sports-talk radio show was canceled at the end of August.)