"Summer Flair Bartender Competition"
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida USA
September 19th 2005

At last the day was upon us. The finals for the "Summer Flair Bartender Competition" had begun. The event was another successful one thanks to all the competitors, judges, staff and fans who came out to support along with their donations to help out our friends in need. There were a few surprises along with some exciting Flair that made for a great event. Here are the final results...

1st Place

Rodrigo Cao came out strong straight out of the gate with choreographed stalls to the music and incredible variety of moves.

One of my favorites was his one bottle and tin sequence with a Captain Morgan bottle right in the beginning hitting every beat and pause at the precise time with the music. It was something that caught the crowd's attention as well as the judges.

Click on Rodrigo's picture to the right to see a highlight of his round.

2nd Place

Nicolas "Nico" Antivero who finished first at the last qualifier comes in second this time.

Nico had the ladies on there heels and cheering for more. It must have been the shirt, or perhaps his degree of difficulty in his routine in which he scored higher then any other competitor. I still think it was the shirt.

Click on Nico's picture to the left to see a clip of him flipping two 10 Cane bottles followed by some quick four bottles.

3rd Place

James "Little Man" Burke was the big surprise of the night. He surprised everybody with a solid routine and finished with a great Specialty drink.

James had some smooth two bottle sequences followed by some original one bottle and tin which earned him some nice points. With some of the lowest points in deductions he was able to keep those valuable points to place him in third. An honor that brought him to tears.

Click on James picture to the right to see a clip of him in action.

Rounding out forth place this time was Chad "Taco" Tocco. Who tied Rodrigo Cao with a perfect Pour Test. Chad has been making a name for himself here in South Florida lately. With some more practice under his belt it will be interesting to see him in future comps.

Taking this months honorable mention was Dave Monterde and Joey Lenz. Dave tried some difficult moves along with having some fun in his Flair round. Another person that always has fun in their Flair rounds was Joey Lenz. Joey put on a fun and entertaining show including a snow storm in the middle of his round! Way to go guys and good luck in the next competition.

A special thanks to Robin Gutilla, Thomas Perugini, Dave Gardiner, Larry Marble, all the competitors, judges, staff and supporters who made this event a success. We will see you at the next event.