Well hello Groovers here we are at the end of week one and what a fantastic first week it was, we may have only had nine entries but we didn't expect huge numbers with such late notice (not to mention downtime and big rule changes).

It has taken a bit over a month to set everything up properly, to ensure we had the amazing branding that the lovely @zipporah created for us. As well as tools for judges, changing round the discord, changing the rules, finding sponsors and of course assembling the team.

Before we get started I would like to thank everyone that entered, you all did some amazing work with very little notice and we were stoked to have you join us. I would also like to thanks to community in general, we have received many kind words of encouragement and support on our new SGL account so thank you all for welcoming our new project with such love and support.

We appreciate it all so much and will do all we can to ensure this contest keeps running, for as long as humanly possible.

So now I better get to it and share with you my first week of results for week 1 of SGL!:

1st Place:

@luisferchav - Drive

Well I have to say I have never been happier to get a message on discord, than I was when you messaged me the other day! I knew it was such fate, we had just launched SGL and bam there was a message from you after sooooo long.

Well as I'm sure your aware from my overly enthusiastic response, that I was thrilled to hear from you and even more excited to hear you wanted to get back into things. I knew I had to invite you to join us and better yet you said you would try to get an entry in for our first week, well my friend manage you did.

I will quote you know cause I think it's adorable, "I don't think I'll have time for an original, but I'll get something out" pffftt.... SOMETHING. Well your something was bloody brilliant in every conceivable way, I was immediately hooked and just blown away by the quality of your performance.

Your playing was perfection, not a missed or mistimed note, perfect volume balance between instrument and vocals. You added a fantastic depth to the tone and you make the sound feel so full with just your voice and guitar alone it's incredible.

You mixed things up, adding your own influences and flavor. I really loved that whistling section, I didn't see it coming but you executed it amazingly and it added this new and amazing element to the song I just adored.

I really love the note change up on the line "Whatever tomorrow brings I’ll be there", for such a small change it added so much to the feel of the song. Creating more complexity to the original, I love the extra vocal gymnastics you've added it really makes it even more fun to sing along with.

Then there's your performance and you really did perform it for us, conveying the emotion of the song not only through the music but your facial expressions and movements perfectly. When it comes down to it, I felt I had no option but to move you into first position this week.

Just an all round fantastic performance and rendition of a great song, I cannot wait to hear what you have for us next week!

2nd Place:

@lk666 - Like A Stone

Well @lk666 you just smashed the hell outta that song my friend, also a massive congratulations on being the very first official entry to SGL ever! I am happy to say I was not disappointed to hear your familiar voice, but you just took it to whole other level and I just couldn't get enough.

Your playing is always precision and on point, your mixing is great with your vocals always clear, your playing is effortless and I love watching you play and sing together something I just cannot do.

Now for me what really stood out was your power house vocals, you really belted the shit outta that song and just completely dominated in every way. I really love hearing the vocal gymnastics you just slaughtered mercilessly, just a stunning vocal display raw and full of emotion.

I really love hearing you in this range, it is your power center and you just destroyed that performance. Showing a great level of skill throughout and making it all look easy in the process, I have listened to this countless times now and simply cannot get over it.

Congratulations on a brilliant first entry and also on the first ever official entry to SGL, you started us off on a brilliant note!

3rd Place:

@orlandogonzalez - Our Love theme

Again another brilliant musician that never misses a note or beat, I was thrilled to see your entry when it came in again cause I expected to see great things. Sure enough you didn't let us down, with such a sweet and beautiful entry.

Your playing is always utter perfection, I couldn't fault it if I wanted to. But this week it was your vocals that caught and kept my attention, your use of tone throughout just created such an amazing vibe that filtered throughout the entire performance.

Your pitch and range were displayed beautifully, with some stunning moments that truly touch the soul. Just an amazing entry from an brilliantly talented musician, I really hope to see you with us again next week!

4th Place:

@andreavu - PERDITION

Welcome to SGL! Whilst I haven't heard from you before this entry I am very happy with what I've heard so far, I really enjoyed your performance on so many levels.

You have a really beautiful voice, you displayed a decent portion of your range and within that your control over it. A really beautiful display of vocal agility, range and control, I really love your tone especially on the deeper notes there is a stunning depth to them.

But it was your energy and performance that made me have to include you this week, you were 100% committed to that performance. Your face and body were all involved in telling the story of the song, you were showing emotion that matched the melody and I just loved seeing you get really into the song as well.

Now being that it was your exuberant energy that I loved, please do not misinterpret what I want to say next. At times your vocals suffered slightly due to your energy levels, this was a highly demanding song when you take breath into consideration.

The fast pace of the lyric requires a lot of focus on breathing and timing those breath perfectly, but at times you sounded slightly breathy and no wonder with that demanding song and performance.

My advice for next week because I truly do want to hear more from you would be, to move your cam to a bookshelf instead of the bed. This way you can stand during your performance, allowing you the space to communicate the song through movements and good breath support.

I think this would help you so much with more demanding pieces like this, it gives your diaphragm more space to drop and allow your lungs more inflation space. On top of this you will be able to use your core to help force the air out in moments when you want to add more power and definition on a note or word.

As I said I absolutely adored your performance and don't want to see you loose that energy and emotion, I only want to help you maximize the end results by enhancing your methods of delivery. I am really honestly excited to see and hear more from you and I hope you will join us again next week <3

5th Place:

@partitura - Was Gott tuth

Firstly I got a kick out of reading your post and I have to say I agree with you... on some levels, but it's difficult to have simple rules that cover all situations like the one you mentioned. However in the spirit of debate :P one could also argue that whilst there is no original to have been influenced by, there have probably been other renditions by other artists that could influence your interpretation.

Now all jokes aside I do hear you and I do take classical music as a unique area of music for several reasons, one would be of course that yes in a lot of circumstances the way the composer intended the piece to be played cannot be known only interpreted. But I also take into account that classical music in a lot of sense requires greater skill and technique to perform, let alone perform well.

Now for your entry this week, well I absolutely loved it. Nothing like some classical music to write to and your performance was just so lovely, I really enjoyed every moment of it. In fact I've been listening to it on repeat while writing this and I had forgotten just how relaxing it can be.

Your performance is exquisite, your talent is abundantly clear, you never miss a note, you created a cohesive sound that ebbed and flowed with grace and beauty. I especially loved your inclusion of the score in the video, a fantastic tool for people to learn as they watch and to help the listener follow along.

I am always amazed watching organ players, my brain is just not wired to multitask with both hands in unison. But your performance was absolutely breathtaking and I simply had to be included in my top 5 this week!

I really hope to hear and see more from you in the weeks to come, there is just not enough classical music being shared so I'm glad to see you're doing your part.

So there we have it, that is my first official judges entry for SGL week 1! I am so thrilled to be part of an amazing team that love music as much as I do, we are all really excited to see such great entries in this first week.

I do have to mention that unfortunately the lovely @isaria is having some technical difficulties at her end, so she is currently unable to post her top 5. Don't worry though she has sent me through her top 5 selection to be taken into account and she will have her judges top 5 post up tomorrow.

Well I have to say what an absolutely amazing first week this was for SGL, you groovers have sure made this first week pack a punch and I am really excited if this is the view of things to come!

Check out @sonicgroovelive to see who won week 1 of SGL!