2011 Kani Ka Pila Grille Talent Search winners Ke'Oahu. (Star-Advertiser File)
HONOLULU PULSE STAFF / honolulupulse@staradvertiser.com
Five finalists have been selected in this year’s Kani Ka Pila Grille Talent Search.
Simply Sedd, Coyne Street, Halawa, Kamakakehau Fernandez and K.B. Riley will all perform during the Made in Hawaii Festival in the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall’s Pikake Room from 5 to 8 p.m. Aug. 18, with the winner receiving a one-month paid contract to perform weekly at the restaurant located poolside at Waikiki’s Outrigger Reef on the Beach.
The winner will also receive complimentary studio sessions at Honolulu Community College’s Mike Curb MELE Studios.
The finalists include:
» Contemporary Hawaiian group Simply Sedd that consists of three friends — Kalae Camarillo, Christian Taum and Olu Campbell — that met while performing in the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Hawaiian Ensemble.
» Comprised of three members of the Hawaii Opera Theatre Chorus, Coyne Street features Dr. Mel Chang, Les Loo and Dean Conching.
» The band Halawa live in the Kalawahine Streamside Hawaiian Homestead and consists of Eddie Kam, Derald Kam and John Baker.
» Although Kamakakehau Fernandez was born in Arkansas, he was adopted as a newborn and raised on the island of Maui.
» K.B. Riley is a new band made up of Albert Makanani Jr., Bryson Lopez, Kainoa Delo and Greg Lopez, who all bring years of musical experience with a diverse background of genres, ranging from traditional Hawaiian music to local contemporary.
The panel of judges that chose these finalists last month were made up of Cyril Pahinui, Grammy-nominated slack key guitar master; Keala Chock, program coordinator for MELE at Honolulu Community College; and Luana Maitland, music director at Kani Ka Pila Grille; and Honolulu Star-Advertiser Entertainment Editor-Online Jason Genegabus.