FOMAT-II BEGINS IN ACTON
The Main Stage at Gold Lion Arena for FOMAT-IIThe long awaited and anticipated FOMAT-II has arrived here in Acton, and what an event! Taking place during the Acton Summer Music Festival, it’s said several million, internationally, came to Hutori’s largest city to watch the festivities either at Gold Lion Arena, which was utterly sold out for the entire Festival, or at one of the smaller venues where other international acts were playing. For the main event however, it’s said every bar, hotel and screen was glued to the main stage!
FOMAT-II had a few changes from FOMAT-I in Deltaria five years ago. The hosts themselves, weren’t entering any submissions for judging. As noted by FOMAT-I Winner and FOMAT-II Judge, Erica Secord. “It wouldn’t be fair for Hutorian judges to be judging Hutorian acts. We would want out hometown heroes to win. So instead, we’ll just be judging the quality of the music itself.”
The three judges, would each rate the acts on a scale of One through Ten, and in the case of Ties, the Judges were jointly decide which was better at the end. The three judges judging FOMAT-II were Secord herself, as the reigning FOMAT Winner, James Wilson, a long time music producer from Falristan and retired Assistant Minister of Culture, who sat on Hutori’s FOMAT Committee and Natasha Banfield, a young actress and singer to round it out.
The scores wouldn’t be announced until the end, but the Judges would offer their feedback and comments in between each set to us. Without further adieu, let’s go to the main stage!
Erica Secord took the stage first to perform her hit song, Call Me, the song that originally caught the attention of the entire nation and was ultimately her audition song that let her go to FOMAT-I. The Crowd favorite won instant acclaim with the crowd, and rallied them up for the rest of the performances. Once she finished she headed to the Judges Booth, near the front of the stage to watch the rest of the Festival.
The guest appearances over we finally get onto the main event!
First up was Endralon’s Somogyi Florian with his Pan-Artanian Patriotic song, Old Artania. The crowd appeared to have a mix reaction to the song, and it appeared to be equally as mixed amongst the judges. There was no denying it wasn’t a bad a song but it didn’t appear to make the same splash because it was sung in the traditional Endralonian, the audience only finding the words after a translation was provided.
James WilsonI actually quite enjoyed the song. It was a nice harken back to the old country and was clearly about honouring unity, mind you I only know that because I understood half of what he was saying. It may not have made the same splash with others.
Natasha BanfieldI mean, it had a decent beat, and the back up instrumentals weren’t terrible, but I sincerely had no idea what he was saying, and having to read it, it just kind of a bore. I wanted to enjoy the song, not have to do reading.
Erica SecordGood song, good instrumentals. I’m curious as to why Endralon would bring a song about Pan Artanian patriotism to an international event. I could understand if it was about Endralon, but this is about loyalty to a continent.
Next on the docket was Deltaria's Richard Kriz performing his hit song Watermelons. It was clearly from the beginning this was definitely going to be an act to beat. Richard's appeal with the younger crowd was palatable, especially the female crowd that went insane as he sang. The song was clearly catchy, with the crowd loving it. Going to the judge's panel while it was mostly positive it was clearly a small splash amongst the older crowd.
James WilsonCatchy, upbeat, definitely a good song. Only thing I'm wondering, why is he focusing on watermelons so much?
Natasha BanfieldI absolutely love this song! Richard is so dreamy, so I can tell why other girls in the crowd went crazy that he did. Sometimes looks in music help push what you're selling, and I can confidently say I'm sold.
Erica SecordI had beat this was going to be an act to beat, and damn was I right. Bravo Richard! Great song, great lyrics, great beat. The other acts better bring it, of he is going to walk away with it in my view.
The first half of FOMAT-II's final performance was by Keymonite Band, Sea Foam, who were performing their classic Rock song, Tales of Brave Achilles. Unlike the songs that had preceded it, Sea Foam had clearly a much more laid back vibe to it, which almost brought down the crowd's enthusiasm, though it was clear there was wide appeal for this as a "chill out" song. The song, while not the big splash of earlier Watermelons, brought relatively positive reviews all round.
James WilsonDefinitely a song I could get behind. Easy to listen to, simple rythym and beat. Nothing wrong with that at all.
Natasha BanfieldNot bad at all. Not my cup of tea, but not bad. I feel like if I had a joint though, I would probably enjoy it a lot more.
Erica SecordAs a girl whose spent a lot of time in Kalistan, I imagine the Kalistanis in the crowd are enjoying this song a great deal. This is a pretty good song all round, not much negative to say about it, other then I wonder if it'll have the same stopping power as the rest of the coming acts.
