GOING OVERSEAS TO BATTLE HEAD TO HEAD

Updated: November 1, 2006

One of the first head to head challenge is over and man what a show it turned out to be. The concept was great and the execution even greater. I’m sure after last months article on Nicolas St. Jean most people became aware of Nicolas’s vision and a new format for a Competition. I didn’t get a chance to interview him after the comp, however he seemed very happy with the final result.

As promised the comp was filmed, and the location was Riverside Studios in Hamersmith England, and when I say filmed it was truly a production with lights a makeup five cameras crane shots and the whole nine. All the contestants were interviewed three times and mic-ed to perform on stage. If I am not mistaken the project is to be sold to channel 4 television network in London. My wish is for it to go global so everybody can see it. I might be a little bias since I love Flair and I also had the opportunity to be involved in this project, but setting in the green room waiting to go on stage, I saw glimpse of the comp on the monitor with all the angle changes and the quick cuts, and I got to be honest it looked really good.

It was like something one would see on MTV. Smiler to “Yo Mama” were everybody is gathered around and two people are battling it out with lots of oohs and ahas. The show was hosted by a very nice lady (Sorry did not get her name) but she was very professional. The judging format was very loose and much like the British sensation X Factor or the U.S version The American Idol. The judges decided who goes through to the next round by critiquing the performers on the spot in front of live audience. The judges were Mr. Big Andy “Cowell” Collinson, the return of the Mac Mr.Chuck McIntosh and the very well respected Bar Wizard Mr. Neil Garner. On finals night Nicolas also added a well known choreographer of “Girls Aloud” (once again I do not know her name) with a extensive resume, and lastly a celebrity judge called Bez from “Happy Mundays” who is pretty famous in England. What surprised me about the celebrity judging was that even though they had no idea what Flair was, for the most part as the English would say they were spot on. The were very consistent with the expert technical judges.

As for the competitors they were top notch, some of the bigger names who were invited did not show up like Christian, Rodrigo, Mig, Tom and Adriano. However the ones that did Neil Lowery, Sebastian, Rafa, and Vladamir put on an excellent show. There were also a few new names in the mix. The Flairmotion crew which were represented by Ilias Kousis who qualified 3rd and had a great show, and Nicolas’s number one student Florian Beuren who has been training for the past 4 years and this was going to be his first comp ever. I for one had heard many good things about him, some even went as far to say that he is better then Nicolas so I had to see this.

The anticipation was high and Florian was one of the favorites to win this comp. I have to say with all the pressure on him and this being his first comp he was very impressive. His style is very unique and he does have many original moves. His creativity is definitely something for new Flair bartenders to watch, and understand that their is no limitation on Flair, he had me thinking why didn’t I think of that on several occasions. I don’t think this will be the last we see of him. I was also impressed with the diverse group of international bartenders present including bartenders from Brazil, Singapore, France, Italy, Ukraine, South Africa, U.S.A, Argentina etc….

It was an impressive practice room, but one guy that had my attention was Rafael Arce. I am not sure if many people in the states are aware of him but he is yet another Argentinean monster that resides in France. He and Sebastian work at the Bar Academy in Paris. He was Amazing, he just looked ready and he was hitting everything. In the pre interviews they asked me who I thought was going to win this comp and I said Rafa or Vladimir, because they both looked very strong. Watch out for him in the November Finals (Roadhouse). The day time qualifiers began with every competitor doing a five minute routine including one working Flair drink from a list, and one dink of choice using exhibition Flair. After the day qualifiers was over, the top 16 went through to battle head to head at the night finals. Their was one guy I did not want to see in the first round and you guessed it I got him. I qualified 11th and Rafa qualified 6th which meant I was to see him in the first round. He started the round with what seemed like 30 forearm bumps, I stopped counting after five because that’s my limit, and I knew I was not going to match that so I went with the rolls. That’s all I remember as I started to fall apart listing to the crowed chant Rafa Rafa Rafa !!! The judging was unanimous he kicked my ass right out in the first round. Another interesting battle was Vladimir and Sebastian, two very strong competitors but I believe Vladimir hurt himself by juggling a bit too much as the crowed and the judging staff were looking for more in your face Flair with lots of attitude and style, nevertheless still a very entertaining round.

One of my favorite rounds to watch was Tony Adams vs. Florian Beuren. It was my first time watching both bartenders so I did not know what to expect, but I knew that Florian was the favorite going in. I got to be honest Tony kept up with him and matched him move for move, this was the closest round I had seen all day. Florian made a drink on his mouth, Tony answered by making a drink on his forearm and got the crowed involved with a count down and dropped it into a back hand stall. Florian did some creative three bottle moves with lots of rolls (my favorite). Tony answered with some original three bottle moves of his own with some creative forearm grabs and releases, they both had lots of presence and composer on stage as Tony brought a newspaper to read as Florian was giving him the cut throat signal. This was very close round one that had the judges split and Tony walked way victorious, however he did not go too far, as he hurt himself in that round with a nagging old injury. It was up to the judges to decide who to bring back in place of Tony to face Rafa in the third round. After voting the judges brought back the ever entertaining showman, and self proclaimed the fastest bartender in the world, Neil Lowery.

Neil had just lost a close battle to the Ilias Kousis which was a very entertaining battle as well. The finals came down to the Bar Academy boys. Sebastian and Rafa as they took care of Neil and Ilias. This was a great battle both bartenders gave it their all as the matched each other move for move for a while, but then Sebastian went back to his strong point which was his smooth original bottle and tin which made him look like he was dancing on stage as the choreographer put it, and Rafa had a misfortune of a break which I believe cost him the trophy. It was a very close battle between two champions who deserve to be on that final stage.

Well this was another great step for Flair just another way for us to showcase our talents. Maybe this format will be a bit more entertaining for the general public. I for one loved it and I hope next year all the big boys show up and take it to the next level. I can see this concept going far, lots of room to be creative and spontaneous on stage. Who wants to practice the same routine in the garage for eight hours a day, that gets a bit old. However this format was fun, it was cool just to walk in their with your bottles and tins, and just flow to the music and play off the other bartender much like two jazz musicians do, just jam together. I hope this article helped paint a picture of what happed on October 30, and I hope you all get a chance to see the final product. I can’t wait until next year, but first Roadhouse 2006 It’s gonna be sick!