Baltimore cabaret singer Martine Casner (holding micro- phone) was a judge on Week 3 of Padonia Station's Voice of Baltimore competition, along with (from left) Damon ‘The Bulldog’ Yaffe, VoB's AL Forman and Ginna Barilone. (VoB Photo/Bill Hughes)

LUTHERVILLE SPORTS BAR SINGING COMPETITION
BENEFITS ABUSED CHILDREN, COURAGE AWARDS

Contest began June 4th, 105 have competed;
17 finalists set to vie tomorrow night for title
 
Seventeen finalists are scheduled to compete Monday night at Padonia Station to become the first “Voice of Baltimore” and the eleventh winner of the Lutherville nightclub/sports bar’s annual competition to benefit the Ed Block Courage Awards and increase awareness and prevention of child abuse.

Now in its sixth week, the 2012 contest featured a total of 105 competitors — 60 women and 45 men — many of whom perform at various clubs and in bands in the Baltimore metropolitan area.

Most judges of the contest have been performers and/or radio personalities well-known to patrons of the many neighborhood and sports bars around town. Others are co-sponsors of the competition, along with VoiceOfBaltimore.org.

Judging the finals Monday night will be Lamar Burton, owner of 1st Class Travel; Karen Riddle, productions assistant for the Baltimore Orioles — both of whom are co-sponsors of the initial Voice of Baltimore competition — Ray Snyder, formerly of the band Tripwire, now in Mixtape band; Anna Mayr, lead vocalist of the band Anna and the Vigilantes and Padonia Station’s 2009 winner of the Baltimore Idol (now the Voice of Baltimore) competition; Rachel Anne Warren, singer/songwriter who performs with the bands Gunwife Gone and Plurals and recently debuted a “pulp cabaret” solo show to rave reviews at the Ottobar; and AL Forman, managing editor and publisher of Voice of Baltimore, the namesake of the 11th annual Voice of Baltimore competition.

Master of Ceremonies for the final will be Paul Mittermeier, communications director for the Ed Block Courage Awards and WNST.net/AM-Radio-1570 personality, whose on-air co-host Damon “The Bulldog” Yaffe has been a frequent judge for the Monday night competitions.

The annual event is coordinated by Padonia Station’s Sales Manager Debi Fowler, who told VoB the club also contributes to St. Vincent’s Villa, a Villa Maria Schools’ “courage house” located in Dulaney Valley.

Ranging in age from 21 to 45, plus one singer who acknowledged she was old enough to be on Social Security, the 105 competitors have been narrowed down over the past six weeks to 17 finalists vying to win a seven-day all-expenses-paid trip to Ocean City, $500 cash, a 10-week recording session, and perhaps best of all, the opportunity to sing the national anthem at an upcoming Baltimore Orioles baseball game at Camden Yards.

The winner’s recording session will take place courtesy of Sheffield Audio-Video Productions’ Sheffield Institute for the Recording Artists, located in Phoenix, Md., and the week in O.C. is being provided by 1st Class Travel. Both are co-sponsors of the 11th Annual Voice of Baltimore Competition, along with Major League Baseball’s Baltimore Orioles and Pabst Blue Ribbon Brewing Co., distributors of National Bohemian Beer, a/k/a Natty Boh.

Patrons of the popular Padonia Station nightclub/sports bar can enjoy a Natty Boh on draft for just $2 for the duration of the competition.

Second prize is $300; third prize is $200.

Formerly known as the “Baltimore Idol,” the contest is in its eleventh year, newly designated “Voice of Baltimore” as a result of objections from Fox Television’s “Idol” franchise, which inexplicably expressed concerns with the local event’s popularity.

Padonia Station is located in Lutherville near the intersection of York and Padonia Roads.

Monday night’s final is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.
 
— Vob Staff report
 
alforman@voiceofbaltimore.org
 
CHECK OUT VoB‘S INITIAL COVERAGE OF THE VOICE OF BALTIMORE COMPETITION (click here)