First to step up was 7-foot (ish) Scottish Giant; Bigg Taj. A man who certainly lives up to his name.
B.T. started the first routine of the final with an initial set of explosive sounds animated with classic
turntablist actions, then dropped into a ridiculously tight & complex D-n-B beat, which he then
flipped into a speeded up rendition of Justin Timberlake's “Rock your body”, finishing on
some high pitch guitar type sounds to complete his 60 seconds.
Host Doc Brown then handed the mic to South London beatboxer Zani, who launched into an incredibly
intricate beat featuring some slick vocal scratching, rapid fire hi hats & a wicked growl type bass.
He then cut into a cover of Kelis' “I just wanna get along wit you” finishing with another
frenzy of hi hats, vocal cuts & gutteral bass growls.
ROUND 2
Foz vs. Faith SFX
Winner: Faith SFX
Nottingham’s Foz kicked off with a solid beat set, then let rip with an insane, and almost horse-like,
inward braying sound which he then somehow managed to accompany with a tasty kick-hat-snare combo and colossal
sounding break. This then faded into a very accurate rendition of DJ Shadow's "Organ Doner" with a
beat that Foz sped up to a speed camera triggering velocity to finish on.
Faith SFX began his reply by pulling his hood over his cap, emitting a series of sci-fi sound effects &
then a very convincing Darth Vader impression; “Luke - I am your father”. This could only be
followed by the famous Star Wars - March of the Empire theme, which Faith accompanied with a stunningly
fast & consistent ragga riddim. Then after asking the crowd if they were "ready for beats &
vocals at the same time” Faith finished on a superb cover of Foreigner then later the Fugees classic
“Ready or Not”.
ROUND 3
DeSEBel vs. Dr Badfunk
Winner: Dr Badfunk
The looming figure of Huddersfield beatboxer DeSEBel was the first to bless the mic in this battle. Those who
didn’t know about DeSEBel’s signature snare were about to find out. With a short spoken intro
Desebel kicked straight into a sick D-n-B routine, briefly announcing the arrival of the bassline, while all
the time keeping control of one of the tightest, sharpest & punchiest snares I’ve ever heard. He
then slowed things down ever-so slightly with a tribal house four to floor type beat, then introducing his
incredible snare back into the mix once more, finishing things off with a tight & intricate Garage/Grime
beat which included the countdown of his routine time allocation. Nice.
Lincoln’s Dr Badfunk commenced his 60 seconds with a vocal tap & beat, quickly switching to a growling base line, which soon became apparent was a cover of Etta James' “I just want to make love to you”. Audience reaction was almost immediate, especially with Badfunk's nod to Kela sitting on the judging bench, as he sang “I don’t want you to be no slave” with a falsetto emphasis on the ‘slave’. Class. The Doctor then built the pace up very well finishing with the line “I just wanna beatbox for you”
ROUND 4
Beardyman vs. Chemikal
Winner by Default: Beardyman
Unfortunately Edinburgh based beatboxer Chemikal encountered some difficulties getting to the airport &
missed his flight to London.
SEMI FINAL
ROUND 1
Dr. Badfunk vs. Faith SFX
Winner: Faith SFX
Badfunk kicked off the semi finals with an ‘invisible MPC’ routine, gesticulating the building
of a track from single sounds & samples, this slowly gathered pace into Dr Dre’s “What’s
the Difference”.
Faith’s response began with a character filled "Superman - look into the skies" intro,
which he rolled into another ludicrously fast D-n-B beat, then, whilst placing the mic onto his throat, began
drinking from a bottle of water, all the while keeping the beat going. Badfunk’s 2nd 60 seconds was not
enough to stop Faith SFX, whose following routine included a cover of Nas’ "Bridging The Gap",
a Parrot impression and a beat so rapid, it must’ve clocked in at something like 300bpm. Ridiculous.
ROUND 2
Zani vs. Beardyman
Winner: Beardyman
Grasping the mic in his right hand and holding it to the side of his mouth all the while looking out into the
crowd with an intense stare, Zani began his first 60 seconds with some well executed covers, not least of all
Snoop & Pharrell's "Drop it like it’s hot” and proceeded into a Vocal
Percussionistic drum routine, flavoured with Zani’s trademark inward snare & sick vocal cuts.
Brighton’s Beardyman stepped up for his first appearance in the final, but was no stranger to the
packed-out Cargo audience having won the London heat held just a couple of hours earlier. Beginning his
routine with an energetic rendition of James Brown's “I got you/I feel good", Beardy cut quickly
into Roots Manuva’s “Witness the Fitness”, then exploded into the unmistakable break
orginally used in Billy Squier's "The Big Beat" made famous today by Dizzee Rascal
in “Fix up look sharp”, which he punctuated with some superb scratching. Then came a stunning
rendition of Roni Size’s “Brown Paper Bag” featuring a jaw droppingly realistic double
bass sound with full double bass playing actions. Crowd whipping frenzy time.
Zani’s 2nd vocal assault began with Dizzee Rascal's “I Luv You” cutting in with some
grimey bass sounds & his ever present & consistent vocal scratches. He then transformed this into
“Are You That Somebody” by Aaliyah demonstrating his ability to sing very well indeed and
all the while maintaining utter clarity & consistency on each individual element of his beats. Impressive stuff.
Beardyman's response began with an example of his performing talents, simulating the starting of a Car,
then driving off – this being the intro to (I think) Michael Jackson’s "Got to be starting
something". He then switched into Sugar Hill Gangs “Rappers Delight”, cutting it off with
the unmistakable & hugely infuriating ‘Crazy Frog’ – ‘aringdingdingding’.
Then, much to the delight of the crowd, proceeded to emulate beating and stomping on the offending amphibian.
Huge audience rapture followed.
THE GRAND FINAL
Beardyman vs. Faith SFX
Winner & UK Beatbox Champion 2005:Faith SFX
Having met a few hours previously in the London heat of the competition, the two finalists where already familiar
with each other, and most of the now capacity crowd. First to get things underway in the grand final was London
heat winner Beardyman. Choosing to start his routine by throwing an invisible object out into the crowd, following
its bouncing movements with his hand and a series of ricochet sounds he ‘caught’ the object just in
front of an on looking Faith SFX and announced “saved your life”. Scratching the “Anything
you can do I can do better” line from Annie he then looked to the sky with an accompany swoosh, rolled
into the Superman theme tune, then several other varied beats before finally ‘drawing’ a light
sabre with some very accurate Star Wars sound effects, ‘plunging’ it deep into Faith’s
chest, pulling out his still beating heart and showing it to the crowd before ‘eating’ it.
Cue comedy belch & audience appreciation. Very entertaining.
Faith's answer began with an ear piercing air raid siren, and another series of intense sound effects which
made way to the unmistakable high notes of the God Father theme tune, switching into his awesome 'vocal flute'
& beat. Faith then launched into a Street Fighter style attack; “Round 1, fight” with a
brilliant badly dubbed Kung Fu film type “You will not destroy me, I will defeat you” skit,
then whilst throwing dragon punches, fireballs all with spot-on renditions of the original computer games
sound effects closed the first of his grand final routines.
Beardyman began the 2nd of his 2 minute rounds with a Terminator impersonation, including a play on the
T1000’s line in T2: “I want your beatboxing skills, your sounds and your cap” Then racing
through another set of covers including a medley of Barrington Levi’s “Broader then Broadway”
& “Under me sensei”, the high pitch squeal of Akon's “Lonely so lonely” by and a
brilliant version of Ray Keith’s “Chopper” jungle tune to finalize his time on the mic for this evening.
“Enough of the gimmicks and the jokes, this is the real beatbox shit” Faith began his final attempt to
win the UK Beatbox title with a clear statement of intent. Initiating his final sequence with the killer bass notes
from Ginuwine’s “Pony”, then teasing the crowd with a rousing soulful voice, building slowly
to drop bass, vocals & beats ‘at the same time’. Saving best to last and with a “slow it
down for the old school” vocal cut he proceeded to drop arguably his best signature tune; “Stand By Me”
orginally sung by Ben E. King. Building again from beat to vocal, then everything at the same time, Faith SFX sent
shivers down the spines of every person in the crowd judging by the deafening response as his 2 minutes were counted out…
