San Diego Slam Team Rises to Victory!

Last night in a small midwest town a small whisper turned into a loud roar. The San Diego Slam team let the world know that San Diego has something to say. In its first trip to the National Poetry Slam since 2001, the San Diego Slam Team enjoyed the sweet taste of victory in its first bout. Going up against very talented teams from Fayetteville, Montevallo, and Maui, the San Diego team performed four individual pieces.

With Ant Black kicking off the bout, he set the bar high, winning his round with a flawless delivery of "The Cuts." The team followed his lead, winning every round. In the second round Deacon Blair overcame the nervous jitters of a first-timer's performance in the national spotlight and performed "Mario Brothers", a brand new poem. Wowing the judges and the audience with a stellar performance of "Stars," Gill SOTU took the stage in the third round. Closing out the bout, Brian Debenedictis received the highest scores of the night for "Jack Your Mind Up."

The night was worthy of celebration and the team hooked up with the Hollywood Slam team, who placed second in their bout against NY-Urbana. It's been a good trip so far and last night made it even better. It was good for both teams to taste success in their first round bouts. Things are looking good for Southern California Poetry in Madison. Both teams are scheduled for their next bout on Thursday at 10 pm (central) and 8 pm on the left coast. Stay tuned for more updates.

Battle for Southern California-San Diego

~Team San Diego defeated in 1st Annual Battle for Southern Cali~
The mic was definitely hot as Ant Black, Deacon Blair, Brian Debenedictis, and Gill SOTU (Team San Diego) defended their home turf against Team Hollywood and the SoCal A Team. It was highly competitive with Team Hollywood, represented by Paul Mabon, Aja-Monet, Javon Johnson, and Rudy Francisco, edging out the win over Team San Diego. The SoCal A Team (Jason O'neal, Jazmine, Eric Morago, and Succinct) came in a respectable third.

There were HBO Def Poets, Grand Slam Champs everywhere the eye could see, even a Nuyorican Slam Champion. This was a $20 show for the low, low price of $5 and the poets did not disappoint. The only standing ovation of the night went to Rudy Francisco and Javon Johnson from Team Hollywood for a team piece called Terrorist.

Surprise guest poet, B Young, blew the crowd away with his role reversal piece entitledQueen. The Team Hollywood coach, Slam Master, and HBO Def Poet, Shihan, even took the stage in a surprise performance. If you didn't make it out to this star-studded poetry event, ask somebody who did how it was...I promise you will be kicking yourself in the ass for the rest of the year!

You don't want to miss the 3-year anniversary show in November...it promises to be bigger than the show last night.