On Saturday, 4th August, 2007, Julie Walter-Sgro's life suddenly changed when she was crowned the Australian Karaoke World Champion 2007. Within four weeks, she would be jetting off to Thailand to represent her country in the international finals of the Karaoke World Championships. Preparations had to be made. Songs had to be selected. Rehearsals had to take place. Media calls were required. There was so much to do with so little time to do it in but, boy, was it exciting!Five songs were required for submission to the Finnish organisers for the five elimination rounds including their performance order. This was a tough one as only the top 5 singers would get to sing all five songs. While the scores were accumulative, placement was everything. A variety of songs was also recommended and once they were submitted they could not be changed. A trip to Capital Karaoke's Megastore was in order. Darryl, Barry & Mike were all on hand to give helpful advice in the song selection process. After much thought and discussion, the final decision was made and Julie's five songs submitted. Then came the next question - what to wear!!
Over the next couple of weeks, Julie appeared in several media articles, the most prominent being a full page article on the front page of the Today liftout of the Courier Mail & an interview and performance nationally on 9am with David & Kim on Channel 10. She flew home from their Melbourne studios just in time to grab her bags and board her flight to Thailand.
On arrival in Thailand, Julie headed off to her hotel for some well earned rest. In the week leading up to the finals, she broke two bones in one of her feet. Determined to be well enough for her performances and deciding that the show must go on, Julie made the decision to throw away her crutches and to begin walking on her foot almost immediately - a decision not endorsed by the organisers but an effort that did see her perform well. Julie had a full day of rest before the competition began. A short meeting of all of the organisers and competitors took place on Thursday night before the main event.
Friday, 7th September, 2007 - After a day of market shopping in the hot, humid temperatures of Bangkok, entrants from around the globe converged on the Suam Lum Bangkok Night Bazaar - a market mecca for tourists and an audience of thousands for the singers - the perfect venue for an international event. After a spectacular performance of 'My Heart Will Go On' from reigning Karaoke World Champion, Australia's own Mark Wilson, each contestant was to sing two songs that evening before returning the next day for the third round of songs. Julie took to the stage with Whitney Houston's, 'I Believe In You & Me' - the song that captivated the judges during the Australian trials - easily placing her among the top 5 singers. The other noteable female competitor for the first round was Hungary's Gabriella Lukacs after she wowed the audience with AC/DC's, 'Highway To Hell'.
After an interval to allow the judges time to recuperate and for some more market shopping to take place, the second round began. Complete with lighting and an overworked bubble machine, Julie performed her second song, Etta James', 'At Last', receiving another huge round of applause from the audience and once again securing her place in the top 5. Vanessa Cooney from Ireland caught the eye of the judges this time with her outstanding performance of 'All That Jazz'. The competition was starting to take shape with Australia, Hungary & Ireland starting to separate from the pack.In the early hours of Saturday morning, everyone started to head back to their hotels, too tired to barter successfully with the taxi drivers and paying way to many baht for the ride. Some took their life into their own hands by hiring a tuk tuk, revelling in the exhaust fumes of Bangkok traffic. Still, everyone made it home in one piece with an adventure under their belts.
Saturday, 8th September, 2007 - After yet another day of frantic market shopping in the hot, humid temperatures of Bangkok and for many, a visit to the dentist for new teeth or a whiter, brighter smile, we all converged on the venue knowing that by the early hours of tomorrow morning we would be the first to know who the new Karaoke World Champions would be. With about 20 of us ready to cheer on our champion, the Australian cheer squad secured their position at the front of the stage. Darryl Hayden from Capital Karaoke made sure there was enough beer to go around while the rest of us waved Aussie flags and cheered. The third round is where the competition starts to separate with the top 5 singers starting to show through. Julie's performance of Tina Arena's, 'Chains' saw her leap into the top 5. After the third round the announcement was made. The top 5 singers continuing on to the next round of the competition - Ireland, Austria, Hungary, Sweden and Australia were the leaders in the female section. Hungary, Finland, Ireland, Malaysia & USA were the leaders in the male section.The fourth round is the round that can make it or break it for any contestant. Julie chose the Jackson 5's, 'ABC' - a song that wasn't overlly popular during the decision making process yet shone through on the night. Julie separated herself from the pack by showing versatility and having a great time on stage. You wouldn't have known there was a broken foot in the house. The audience and the judges loved it. It was at this point that Kelvin Lu Hee Wah from Malaysia grabbed everyone's attention. His performance of 'I Want To Spend My Lifetime Loving You' by Tina Arena & Marc Anthony using his three octave range had the hairs standing up on everyone's arms. He was the Mark Wilson of this year's competition. It was still anyone's competition but Australia & Malaysia were starting to stand out as the winners.
Time for the fifth round - the decision maker. This is the round that would determine who the new Karaoke World Champions would be. Julie had chosen to sing 'The Prayer'. Looking fabulous as she took to the stage, she commanded the audience and it appeared that she had secured her position in Karaoke World Championships history. All of her practice had paid off.
It was now the early hours of Sunday morning, 9th September and time for the announcements. It was still up to the judges as to who the new Karaoke World Champions would be. Fingers crossed, we all hoped to hear those magic words. After a final performance of 'One Moment In Time' from Mark Wilson before handing over his crown, the announcements started with 5th place. Austria's Corina Susanna Mitchell was announced in the female section (an announcement that was crucial in the pronunciation by the wonderful Thai compere as one slip up could have changed history!) and Hungary's Gabor Erdelyi in the male section. 4th place went to Sweden's Tina Fischer in the female section (and not an Abba song in sight) with Finland's own 'Patrick Swayze' look-a-like, Juha Karvonen in the male section. 3rd place honours went to Hungary's Gabriella Lukacs in the female section and Ireland's David Naughton in the male section.
It was now down to the top two - Ireland & Australia in the women's section and USA & Malaysia in the men's section. The tension was mounting as everyone sat on the edge of their seat. The remaining four contestants were asked what their experience of KWC was like. The overwhelming response that it was a great time and that they had met some wonderful people. To be standing in the top two was a bonus.Drawing out the suspense like all good comperes do, the time finally arrived for the announcement of the 2nd place winner in the female section. Cameras and flags at the ready, the Irish contingent leapt to their feet as their representative, Vanessa Cooney was announced in second place. The Australians also began cheering as it also meant that our national champion, Julie Walter-Sgro, had won the female section of the Karaoke World Championships 2007! It was hugs and kisses all round as Vanessa was awarded her prizes and Julie awaited her announcement.
Michael Moses from the USA was announced as the runner up in the male section. Everyone cheered as Michael received his prizes and took his place centre stage with the others.
It was now time to present to the world the new Karaoke World Champions for 2007 - Julie Walter-Sgro from Australia & Kelvin Lu Hee Wah from Malaysia. The international crowd cheered as they received their trophies and prizes and were congratulated by the Finnish organisers.
Then came the traditional final ritual - 'We Are The World'. As the music started and microphones were passed around, everyone joined in and sang along with hands and flags in the audience raised. To finish the show, our new world champions sang their favourite songs. Julie started her reign with 'I Believe In You & Me' while Kelvin indulged the audience one more time with his extraordinary performance of 'I Want To Spend My Lifetime Loving You'.
The aftershow party continued on in the foyer of the hotel with an impromptu performance around the piano. The staff were more than obliging, reopening the bar and letting the revellers from around the world revel. The party continued through until morning as those coming down to breakfast were also treated to an impromptu performance. The next day was spent resting while Teresa West from MJE Karaoke was busy rounding up the KWC troups from around the world for more karaoke in the karaoke bar of Grand Mercure Fortune Hotel later that evening.
Monday morning, Julie was up at 4am for her first official engagement - a cross live via satellite from Bangkok to Sydney for an interview on Channel 7's 'The Morning Show' with Larry Emdur & Kylie Gillies. Together with KWC Australia Organiser, Kate Kelly & Julie's husband, Patrick, finding the studio in Bangkok with no common language between themselves and the taxi driver was an experience in itself but together they found it and Julie was set up on time, ready for the interview. With a three hour time difference in favour of Australia, Julie looked remarkably bright eyed and bushy tailed considering the hour of the day. With the first interview under her belt, Julie spent the rest of the day on the phone to various ABC radio stations around Australia, 4BC in Brisbane and JJJ with Robbie Buck nationally along with newspaper interviews. Monday night was an early one. Tuesday morning, she was back on the phone to 6PR in Perth.
With a few days to herself to enjoy Bangkok, Julie & Patrick hit the streets for some serious shopping before heading back to Australia. Now that she is back home, Julie will be performing live in the studio for 'The Morning Show' in the upcoming weeks while KWC Australia starts preparing for 2008. We'll keep you posted....
Photos courtesy of Atte Hujanen - Oy KWC Organisation Ltd
