Ottawa’s Capital Slam team won Saturday night’s championship at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word, one of two local teams that competed.
“It felt amazing to win,” Chris Tse, the captain of the Capital Slam team, said. “My teammates and I worked hard to get here, but every team that participated in the festival this year was incredible.”
CFSW is a national spoken word competition that features teams from across Canada, who gather every year for a national championship. This year’s festival was held this week in Ottawa.
Over a hundred people filled Dominion-Chalmers United Church on the corner of Cooper and O’Connor streets for the finals.
The event featured Ottawa’s two teams, Capital Slam and Urban Legends, as well as teams from Burlington and Montreal.
The home teams had the support of the crowd, with both receiving standing ovations for their performances.
Many of the night’s poems were about social and political issues, such as poverty and the importance of social consciousness, with a few comedic ones to change it up.
Capital Slam changed the tone when they performed a light-hearted team piece about love and heartbreak in which each poet’s part was inspired by a Wizard of Oz character.
Tse performed the last poem of the night, a piece called, “I”m a Christian, I’m Sorry.”A video of Tse delivering the poem was posted on YouTube this past year. It sparked controversy and online debate about Christianity and its history.
Ottawa’s other team, Urban Legends, placed second in the finals. Marcus Jameel, a member of the team took the stage after the event and reminded the audience the teams weren’t just there for points, but also to spread their message to others.
It was the team’s first time at nationals. The Urban Legends poetry circle was founded in 2009 by Marcus Jameel and Ian Keteku. Their poems tended to focus on political issues and social consciousness.
Capital Slam’s win last night makes them eligible for a spot at the world championship, but for the poets who didn’t place this year, CFSW 2011 will be held in Toronto.
More information about local spoken word shows can be found online at the Urban Legends and Capital Slam websites.