Disharmony In London Jazz Club As Competitors Complain Winner Was A Professional

A charity open mic competition for amateur singers at a London jazz club has ended in disharmony after contestants complained that the winner was a professional.

Christa Engelbrecht belted out a string of standards over four rounds of the contest before winning with a “polished” rendition of Cole Porter’s Too Darn Hot.

But fellow competitors “smelt a rat” and found online that she is an actress and model who has sung at Ronnie Scott’s and is recording her debut album.

Photographer Rebecca Tommasi, 36, knocked out in the first round, said: “I don’t know any amateurs who have performed at Ronnie Scott’s. The event specifically says non-professionals and it is supposed to be for charity.”

Coffee shop worker Marta Gornicka, 24, who reached the final four from 26 contestants, said: “It left us feeling bitter and disappointed. The idea was to support charity.”

Ms Engelbrecht denies doing anything wrong and says she is still learning as a jazz singer.

The competition took place at the annual Angela Carrington Awards, held in memory of a London jazz singer who took her own life while suffering depression.

The event, at Kennington’s Toulouse Lautrec brasserie last Sunday, was to raise money for the Samaritans.

It is billed as a contest for “all non-professional jazz singers who perform regularly at open mic nights in and around the London jazz scene”.

   

Ms Engelbrecht, a Goldsmiths graduate who trained at Central School of Speech and Drama, describes herself as a “highly skilled” jazz singer and performed on Ronnie Scott’s main stage with the Leo Richardson Quartet.

In her bio on acting website Casting Call Pro, she writes: “I am a charismatic,  tall actress. I also sing professionally.”  

Ms Engelbrecht has hit back on Twitter at what she called “#bullies and #haters” and said should leave their “spitefulness at the door”.

Another tweet said: “I am not a pro jazz singer, but I’m working on it. I haven’t lied about anything. My biog to the judges had all info including Ronnie Scott’s.” 

Brian Shaw, founder of the Angela Carrington Awards, said: “Ms Engelbrecht regularly performs at open mic nights, which is normally a sign a singer is not a professional.”

One of the judges said: “As far as I’m concerned nobody was a professional singer. The winner gets a trophy. There’s no cash prize.”

Source : Standard