AJewishStar finalists

After keeping the Jewish music industry and thousands of others in suspense, judges of A Jewish Star singing competition Avraham Fried, Michael Sojcher and Mendy Pellin met at the offices of COLlive in Brooklyn, NY. Their goal was to winnow down the contestants ahead of the March 7 Soul II Soul concert.

During the audition period, some 50 contestants from around the world were put to the test sending in a video of their solo performances, with or without background music. 26 auditions made it through and were previewed on AJewishStar.com. Until January 24, 2010, it was up to you to decide who would garner a spot in the Top 10 semifinalists.

61,893 votes were cast and here are the Top 10 (according to rank):

1: Choni Grunblatt
2: Avraham Ohayon
3: Shuki Sadon
4: Choni Teitelbaum
5: Binyamin Moshe
6: Boruch Sholom Blesofsky
7: Nissen Brenenson
8: Gershon Shapiro
9: Shmuli Stiefel
10: Moshe Lehr

These names were revealed to the judges at the Jan. 25th meeting by Yehuda Ceitlin, Editor-in-Chief of COLlive.com, without specifying in what order they were voted in.

In good spirits, the judges watched the auditions and were asked to rate each of the semifinalists with a score from 1 to 5. They also asked to give their take on these auditions. Each drew on their expertise and experience; Fried, as a music superstar, Sojcher, as the leader of the renowned Neshoma Orchestra and Pellin (joining via video conference from Los Angeles), as an entertainer and comedian - to make the decision.

The judges' Top 3 will take the stage on Sunday, March 7, to perform live for the judges and for the audience at Brooklyn School for Music & Theatre.

And the Top 3 Finalists Are... from COLlive.com on Vimeo.

(via Gruntig!)