Ottawa Tonite.com : Section Title

She walked across the stage, eyes downcast, with a string of beads in her hand.  As she neared the microphone, the quiet sound of her prayer filled the silent auditorium.  She looked up, and addressed the audience in a voice suddenly bold and crisp: 

“Dear Young Rebel…” 

Hodan Ibrahim, making war into poetry

 By the end of sacrifical poet Hodan Ibrahim’s piece, there were tears in a number of eyes, and that set the tone for the emotional, often tense Capital Slam Poetry Finals.

Over 300 people filled Ottawa University’s Alumni Auditorium to capacity Saturday night to watch the eight Capital Slam semi-finalists battle fiercely for the chance to represent Ottawa at the Canadian Spoken Word Festival in October, and to crown this year’s Capital Slam Champion. 

It was a night of bold moves: with only two rounds to qualify for the team, and a third to secure the title of Champion, these “best poets in the galaxy”, as they were introduced by Capital Slam Director Nathanaël Larochette, were prepared to take chances with their performances in order to win. 

John Akpata was the first poet to compete.  Not known for avoiding controversy, he launched into a provocative piece that reached its climax with a direct jab at allegations of a link between Umi Café and the recent Glebe RBC firebombing.  Truth Is… took the stage next with a succinct statement lamenting her disconnection from her African linguistic heritage.  Brandon Wint’s first poem was a departure from his usual repertoire of love poetry, as he shared an intensely personal piece about the effect one’s body can have on one’s destiny, to a standing ovation from a quarter of the crowd. 

Chris Tse is adept at using his cheeky sense of humour to introduce and tackle a serious subject.  In this instance, he approached the topic of labels and divisions by way of an analogy with the conflict between skiers and snowboarders.  Brad Morden followed with a poem about how the media and the news can distort the truth by not telling the entire story, or every story that needs to be told.  Loh El’s first piece of the evening expressed despair at the inequality of the world from the perspective of a person of privilege. 

Prufrock drives his message home

Prufrock, in the first of his three exceptionally strong performances, performed a poem about the inequities faced by immigrants with degrees from other countries that aren’t considered valid here.  Open Secret took the stage to finish up the first round with a piece paying respect to his Nigerian heritage. 

After a break, the second round opened with sacrificial poet Jenna Tenn-Yuk performing a spirited piece on her crisis of cultural identity as a “Jamasian”, of Jamaican and Chinese descent. 

Open Secret started with a bittersweet poem written as a letter to his estranged mother.  Prufrock returned to the stage with a humorous but poignant piece about the perpetuation of black stereotypes.  Loh El’s second piece of the night was an impressively mature poetic offering about confronting others, and confronting shame and fear.  Brad Morden, urging the listener to “be the artist that you are”, performed an imagery-laden poem about writing itself.  Chris Tse’s knack for subtlety brought over a third of the crowd to their feet with a thoughtful, apologetic poem on Christian hypocrisy.  Brandon Wint chose a more typically romantic piece for his second performance.  Truth Is… provided a picture of the consequences of being punished for defending oneself, and the oppression of the individual that starts in school. John Akpata was last before the break, with a piece echoing the injustice of slavery and celebrating the sovereignty of the individual. 

Brandon Wint captures the hearts of the audience again

Marcus Jameel was the sacrificial poet for the third round; the rich imagery and tight rhythm of his vivid depiction of victims rising from the dead to speak went well over the three minutes alloted, but was absolutely worth any time penalty. 

As each of the third-round finalists were announced, confirming their membership in this year’s team, the crowd let loose with wild applause.  Prufrock captivated the crowd with a brilliant piece in a rich Jamaican patois that told the story of an encounter with a crack user which, with its serious underlying message, was screamingly hilarious in content and delivery.  John Akpata, the first ever Capital Slam Champion in 2005, presented a laidback poem about his apparently frequent conversations with police officers.  Open Secret performed his ode to his sister, the source of much of his drive and inspiration, who died at a young age.  Chris Tse rounded out the set with a departure from his usual lighter fare, a detailing of the Rape of Nanking in 1937 through the eyes of his grandfather. 

While the scores were being tabulated, special guest Rob G. from England took to the microphone with something more “fluffy” than “ranty” (like the majority of his repertoire), a love poem filled with unusual turns of phrase that delighted the audience. 

Before announcing the Champion, Nathanaël named Brandon Wint as the alternate (a fifth, backup member of the team), to a round of applause.  When Chris Tse was named Champion, he proceeded to surprise everyone by taking the microphone to perform one last poem for the evening, McDonald’s Girl. 

Chris Tse, 2010 Capital Slam Champion

The season has ended with a beginning: the birth of a new, strong team to represent Capital Slam at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word.  Just because the finals are over doesn’t mean there’s no more slam poetry until October, however.  The Capital Poetry Collective will be performing as part of the Ottawa Fringe Festival.  The Urban Legends finals will be on July 2nd at Roosters Café, Capital Slam will be returning to its home venue, the Mercury Lounge, on July 3rd, and on July 17th, the Lanark County finals will be at Carleton Place High School, from 12-4 pm. 

The 2010 Capital Slam Poetry Team, left to right: John Akpata, Prufrock, Chris Tse, Open Secret, and team alternate Brandon Wint

 Andrew Snowdon is a theatregoer, concert attendee, and writer living in Lowertown, Ottawa, sandwiched between a MacBook and a typewriter.  

Photography by Jes Lacasse. 

Tags: Capital Slam Championship, Capital Slam Poetry, Chris Tse

This entry was posted on Monday, June 7th, 2010 at 11:35 am and is filed under Literature, Spoken Word. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.