It was a wild ride at semi-finals this Wednesday, folks, with an unprecedented lucky thirteen poets taking the stage to try for a spot in the Finals. After two rounds of blisteringly hot slam, then new-to-the-stage work from sacrifices RebeccaLynn and Meaghan Ford, we ended up with a record-setting ELEVEN poets qualified for Finals on March 29:
1. Brandon Melendez 59.0
2. Neiel Israel 58.4
3. Allison Truj 57.9
4. Mckendy Fils-Aimé 57.2
5. Kylie Noelle 57.0
6. Adam Stone 56.3
7(t). Em Taylor 55.5
7(t). Austin Hendricks 55.5
9(t). Kieran Collier 55.5
9(t). John Pinkham 55.5
9(t). Zeke Russell 55.5
12. Claudia Wilson
13. Ron Prudent
Our five awesome judge (thanks: Quinn, Eric, Eden, Christopher, and John & Kai!) stayed so tightly consistent that we had a three-way tie for the ninth spot to qualify! So all the poets in bold have qualified to advance to the three-round final slam to select the 2017 Boston Poetry Slam Team.
March 29 is gonna be an extra-long slam, folks (with a break in the middle), so get ready for an extra-short open mic. If you want to catch a spot to read this month, you might have to set your heart on one of the next three Wednesdays: we’ll be featuring David Winter & Raena Shirali on March 8, the CUPSI Warm-Up slam on March 15, and Deonte Osayande on March 22. See you there!
Boston Poetry Slam Online