Tough contest in Drumahoe

The bar in Drumahoe - formally known as The Three Mile – is hosting this competition for six weeks. The winner will obtain a £500 prize with runner up prizes also available.

The judging panel last week consisted of Will Chambers, Debbie Murphy, Jeff Wray and Karen Gordon, standing in for Colin Nutt.

The bar’s famous ‘Hobbs’ kicked off Country Western Week. He achieved a standing ovation from the judges and a lot of laughter from the audience. He sang ‘The Green Green Grass of Home’ by Tom Jones, with Debbie commenting he had “the fun factor, you’re good craic!”

Newcomer Pearl Cooke wasn’t well last week so was asked to sing three songs. She sang ‘Crazy’ by Christen Sawyer. Debbie said that she was “brilliant and [she] missed [her] last week.” She achieved 28 points out of 40 from the judges.

Éimear Sweeney took to the stage shortly after, singing the Dixie Chicks’ ‘Travelling Soldier.’ Debbie said: “You have the sweetest voice, it was lovely” with Karen saying she was “fabulous.”

The 18-year-old achieved 30 points from the judges and a good audience reaction.

She said: “I was confused about where to come in on the second verse but I picked it up OK.”

Newbuildings teenager Amy Gardiner, once again, took the bar by storm. Her

rendition of Miley Cyrus’ ‘The Climb’ achieved 35 points. Karen said the performance was “beautiful” and Debbie stated that she wanted to see her in the final.

Amy said: “I thought the performance went well and I was really pleased with the judges’ comments.”

Drumahoe local Jordan O’Keefe sang ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ by band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He got 33 points from the judges with Will saying it was “very well done” and Jeff saying he “sang it well”, and that it was a “fantastic song choice.” Debbie said that he was “right up there with the final three.” He said: “I felt I gave an average performance.”

Eden Guthrie sang ‘There You’ll Be’ by Faith Hill and achieved a great audience reaction. Debbie said: “you blasted that out, good stuff” and Karen said the performance was “beautiful and the song was close to [her] heart”. She went off stage with 31 points from the judges.

Naturally, there couldn’t be a Country Western week without Dolly Parton. Wanda Gordon sang ‘Here You Come Again’ with Debbie saying she had “a great voice and a great song” with Will saying it was “sang very well.” She got 23 points from the judges.

Wot’s Cookin’ waiter and hairdresser, Scott Hamilton sang Gareth Brookes’ ‘The Dance’ to a round of applause. Both Jeff and Will said it was sang very well and was an improvement from last week, with Karen saying he “took [her] by surprise”. However, Debbie disagreed and said that he won’t be through to next week. The pair got into a domestic that had the whole bar in stitches of laughter. Scott got 23 points from judges.

Contestants then got ready to sing their second song, which was a song of their choice.

Éimear started the second half of the show with her own version of Adele’s popular song ‘Rolling In The Deep.’

She achieved a huge audience reaction and great comments from the judges. Jeff said: “Well done Éimear, I wanted you to do something more upbeat after the two slower songs and that was a far better performance.” Debbie said: “You belted that out of you, that’s what I wanted to hear and you nailed it!” Éimear finished the competition in joint fourth, with 33 points from the judges.

Pearl then took to the stage, singing two songs due to her absence last week. She sang Grease soundtrack ‘Hopelessly Devoted’ and ‘I Beg Your Pardon’ by Canadian band Kon Kan. Jeff said: “Excellent performance but we’ll have different themes each week. My only worry is you’re great at Country and Western but what about Disco or Dance or R&B?” For both songs she achieved 38 points and 33 points and finished second in the competition.

Crowd favourite Amy Gardiner sang a Whitney Houston classic, ‘I Will Always Love You’ with a massive 37 points from the judges. Amy said “I’m so happy with the points I got. The audience gave a good reaction to both songs, although I think they gave a bigger reaction to the second song.” Amy won the weeks competition with Joanne Leonard finishing in third place with her rendition of Journeys’ ‘Don’t Stop Believing.’

Jordan joins Éimear in joint fourth with Paolo Nutinis’ popular ‘Last Request.’ However, the judges felt this “wasn’t [his] best performance” and he was “slightly off key.” But he finished the competition with 27 points from the judges.

He said: “that was just terrible. I’ve been sick all week and I’ve had laryngitis as well so that hasn’t helped me.”

For Wanda’s song of choice, she sang the Sashs’ ‘Stay.’ Will and Jeff said “you sang it well.” She finished the competition with 24 points. Eden also got through to this weeks’ competition. She sang ‘Runaway’ by The Corrs. She got 28 points from the judges with Debbie saying it was a “lovely song choice.”

The pub said goodbye to Drumahoe’s very own ‘Jedward,’ ‘Hobbs,’ and celebrated the finalists victory at the disco after the competition.

This week is Rock week, with a song of the contestants’ choice.

As usual everyone is welcome for moral support. The competition should start after 8pm. More information can be found by calling the bar on (028) 71 311 638.