<p>If anyone wants to be inspired by the depth and breadth of MT talent in the country, it’s worth spending some time listening to some of the ~700 entries in this years’ JRB Karaoke Contest on SoundCloud.</p>
<p>Not only is it fun to listen to various interpretations of the same songs, but it’s also fun to read JRB’s comments to the singers.</p>
<p>Inspirational, entertaining AND educational. ;-D</p>
<p>[JRB</a> Karaoke group on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free](<a href=“http://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/groups/jrb-karaoke]JRB”>http://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/groups/jrb-karaoke)</p>
<p>To find the entries with JRB’s comments, start on page 70 as the last entries are shown first and many were submitted after the final deadline and so lack comments.</p>
<p>A few interesting ways to explore this treasure trove;</p>
<p>1) Pick a favorite JRB song and listen to lots of versions of it.</p>
<p>2) Find one of JRB’s comments on a video, click on his name, then find the 67 “Favorites” he’s picked out of the 694 entries and listen to some of those.</p>
<p>3) Look through the list (on JRBs blog, listed by state), find your friends and listen to their entries.</p>
<p>The last time he did this, in 2008, there were ~200 entries. The winners in 2008 were Natalie Weiss, Jonathan Reid Gealt, Natalie Hawkins and Jonathan Shew. </p>
<p>I think entries to the 2008 competition were submitted via YouTube, and many are still available, but I’m not sure how long the 2012 entries on SoundCloud will stay around. I hope for a long time as it’s very fun to listen to them! </p>
<p>Also - If anyone figures out how to download things from SoundCloud I’d love to know how.</p>
<p>Thanks for the pm’s explaining how to download songs – it worked, though I notice some don’t have the button to let you download them.</p>
<p>I’ve heard that JRB has finished listening to (and COMMENTING on!!) all 700+ entries, and will announce semi-finalists at the end of this week.</p>
<p>Good luck to all who entered, and to those who didn’t this week may be your last chance to listen to some of the entries (not sure if they’ll be kept on SoundCloud or removed).</p>
<p>Here is one of my favorite entries, by The Broadway Boys (sadly no connection to me)…</p>
<p>[What</a> it Means to Be a Friend by The Broadway Boys on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free](<a href=“http://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/the-broadway-boys/what-it-means-to-be-a-friend]What”>Stream What it Means to Be a Friend by The Broadway Boys | Listen online for free on SoundCloud)</p>