Hello my friends, what a crazy week right? - Challenges of the hf aside, I'm happy that we made it through, that people did not falter, and that we came out victorious on the other side. So, here we are week 104, isn't that crazy? It blows my mind a little bit, two years into this awesome contest.

Without any more delays, here we go:

First Place.-

@pechichemena - El molino (original song)

I often ignore pechi's entries, and honestly, as much as I do so because I want to be fair to everyone, its hard for me to ignore this little masterpiece and feel like I'm doing things the right way. I'm not alone in the opinion that this song is a superb example of his work and talent, and the harmonies are just out of this world.

Second Place.-

@shookriya - Open Mic Check(original)

One of the grooviest, trippiest things I've had the pleasure to enjoy on this contest or more accurately said on this platform in general. Shook is somewhat of a little musical genius, but you would not know that from his humble nature.

Third Place.-

@mariajruizb - Smile (cover)

Maria is a singer for singers. It's one of those vocal talents that makes the #openmic proud and I'm sure I speak for all judges on this one. From that first entry those months ago that blew us out of the water, her entries never fall short of fantastic. Beautifully performed.

Fourth Place.-

@trilumia - Azul Trilumia (djavan)

A collection of some of the most talented musicians from Brazil on Steem, What??? I really enjoyed this, very much actually. I mean, I've been listening to Ravi and Lisa forever and knew it was going to be good, but this was just excellent. Impossible to listen to this and not smile.

Fifth Place.-

@funkmedia - Cover low(lenny Kravits)

Of course, in a style that is now their signature, @funkmedia brings the thickest of grooves this week to make your move on your chair. As a bassist myself, I always default to groove, groove is everything and the pocket players of @funkmedia don't disappoint here, actually, they never do.

Honorable Mentions

In no particular order, these are some of the performances I loved this week.... I'm super grateful for being someone who gets to listen to this talent.

@elisonr13 - Un poco de blues(original)

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@tarotbyfergus - How are you a cat

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@drewley - Rain (original composition)

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@dianakakyv - Can't help falling in love (cover)

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@senzenfrenz - Whats up(cover)

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Don't forget to checkout the official Steemit OpenMic judges picks from @passion-ground @krystle @soundlegion and @verbal-d. Winners selected and announced every Monday on @luzcypher's blog page.

My deepest of Gratitudes

I would like to personally thank @ausbitbank, @curie and @aggroed for helping out our community. It's inspiring to see leadership taking the initiative to keep our beloved #openmic alive like this and its to me the biggest bullish indicator that we are on our way to a better, brighter tomorrow.

To our long time patron @pfunk once again, thank you for backing this project as you have for so long. I hope seeing the community rally behind the contest that we love so much made you proud. We have something very special here, and you've been key for it to be what it has become.

Long live the openmic!!!

And that's it my friends, week 104 is done!! Now that things are back to normal, we should see the creative spark take over everyone's spirit all over again and triple the entries for this week, right?

But hey friend, before you leave my post musical brother or musical sister, please know that despite the fact that we call this a competition, even though my post says first, second, third place, that is not what matters about the #openmic. In the end of the day the judges are just as human, as flawed and beautiful as everyone else on this planet. The ethos of this contest, of this community, is simply for us to have special place to share our passion for music, for us to laugh together, to cry together and explore emotions that everyday life seems to neglect in one way or another.

Every single one of you is valuable to me, so thank you for being part of my musical family...

Much love

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