Gangstarz: Judges show no mercy

Twelve groups contesting in TV3’s newest reality show, Gangstarz, did not have it rosy as they might have thought when they mounted the stage last Sunday to display their singing prowess.

Each group, after a marathon performance, left the stage with something to ponder over as judges B.B. Menson, Jackie Ankrah and David Kwabena Bolton showed no mercy in their judgments that night; they wasted no time in telling contestants where they failed.

Their comments seemed to suggest that the groups performed below expectation; BB was at the peak of this, as he never minced words in criticising.

The night which was filled with passion, glamour and some tension saw contestants suffering poor pitches and breathe control as well as poor diction. Some also got carried away by the crowd as they only concentrated on doing more boogieing.

However, some were good with their microphone techniques, costuming and dancing steps. They also did well in handling stage fright. This, the judges did not hesitate to commend.

Performances for the night hit the road with the group Blaze doing Akon’s ‘Ghetto’. Shades was next with one of Usher’s hit songs.

Sparks did R. Kelly’s ‘Step-by-step’ while Da Soul and Pippers got the audience enthralled with Mario’s ‘How Do I Breath’ and Jaheem’s ‘Just In Case’ respectively. LS3 performed a track from Pussycat - ‘Doll’ - while Natives did Lilwayne’s ‘Lollipop’.

Afro attracted the best comment of the night with their performance of Wutah’s ‘Big Dream’, though BB was of the view their song was “so cheap to sing”. Flames and G-Girls also handled spectacularly Back Street Boys’ ‘Quit Playing Games With My Heart’ and one of Destiny’s Child’s greatest songs of all time.

One Accord and 2Hot climaxed the night with Neyo’s ‘Sexy Love’ and P-Square’s ‘None Like You’.

The Onetouch-sponsored Gangstarz would hit the screens again at 8:00pm on Sunday.