Ljubljana, Ep. 1
Thursday, March 28, 2013 at 11:48AM March 28, 2013 — In one of the great debuts in the history of debuts, Literary Death Match stormed Ljubljana's Kavarna Union with a showcase of the Slovenia's finest talent, that ended when Jana Kolarič outduelled Katja Gorečan in a Spell-Binding finale by a final score of 22-14 to win the nation's newest literary award, the Literary Death Match championship!
But before the finale was even a thought, the night began with the LDM TV trailer before LDM host/creator Adrian Todd Zuniga hopped on stage to introduce the Slovenian-language show (explaining that he'd be the only one speaking in English). He welcomed the first two writers of the night. First up was Katja Gorečan, who read from her book Trpljenje mlade Hane, a subtly-stated autobiography about the different facets of her life. Next was Teja Črnivec who read four poems from her book of poetry Pikapolonice ne morejo leteti brez kril, which ranged from a young girl smoking a cigarette to a woman from Paris.
The microphone was then passed to the trio of superstar judges: musician and brainiac Boštjan Narat, actress and TV presenter Katarina Čas, and stand-up comedian Vid Valič. Narat loved how Gorečan used herself as the protagonist of the book, but named herself Hane, while Čas complimented her stage presence and the way she stood. About Črnivec, Narat loved that she stuck to the old traditional forms of poetry, while Čas was taken by the fact that she read her last piece from memory. Valič chimed in with witticisms about each writer that had the audience in throes of laughter.
After a difficult deliberation, the judges announced that — by the narrowest of margins — Gorečan would advance as the night's first finalist.
Then came an amazing Round 2, in which the masterful Jana Kolarič (author of Lutke iz Ljubimora) read a short story about a woman babysitting her sister's daughter that ended with a tragic twist. Next up was Mojca Vakselj, who read excerpts from her book MiaXara, one of the finest sections being about how people can beseparated people into stones and painters.
Then it was time for the judges once again, with Narat complimenting Kolarič on how the details in the beginning of her story seemed unimportant, but slowly it became essential, followed by Čas and Valič saying she needed to write scripts for films. For Vakselj, the trio praised her brilliant performance, and how she looked the part of a superstar.
Again, an impossible decision for the judges who asked if it could be a tie, but finally they decided it would be Kolarič who would advance as the night's second finalist.
Then Zuniga took center stage with producer Hana Gaber by his side for the Spell-Binding finale in which both Kolarič and Gorečan had to spell complicated international author names. After being down 8-1 in a hurry, Kolarič stormed back relentlessly, nailed Solzhelnitsyn as the crescendo, given her a 22-9 lead. Gorečan tried for a comeback, but fell short, as Kolarič was crowned champion, winning both the LDM Ljubljana, Ep. 1 medal and literary immortality to go along with it!
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Reader Comments (1)
Adrian, thanks again for that great evening ! It was a fantastic atmosphere.