Four finalist spots were up for grabs at the of Baltimore, which scored barely ahead of St. Paul with 113.6 points. This poet focused on how sick he was of beautiful -- but unintelligent -- women. "While beauty is only a light switch away," he slammed, "you can't turn off stupid." A cerebral "badonkadonk," he continued, was much more attractive than a woman with the skeletal structure to match up with the Golden Ratio. "Who we really should be lauding," he said, "are the woman who actually know what the Golden Ratio is."
Another poem that won over the audience was a piece on water pollution from Mental Graffiti of Chicago, which finished second with 114.8 points. "Civilization cannot be sustained on tears alone," lamented the performer.
First-place Other performances were particularly moving and political, such as on from an Oakland poet about Barack Obama that evoked concerns many African Americans have with the current election. "I'mma need you to remember that Obama is half white," she declared. "He is not going to take the face off the front of the quarter and replace it with a fried chicken." The poet continued, voicing a common fear. "Obama cannot stand for change because people fear change and his days may be numbered," she proclaimed, referencing the spate of assassinated leaders from an earlier generation, including Malcom X and Martin Luther King, Jr. "This country has a history of taking black men with potential and ending their lives," she concluded. "So I'mma need you to remember that Obama…is half white." Ultimately, Charlotte's strong showing in both the funny and serious realms of slam --one piece described a girl being beaten to death by her boyfriend and one called for "all our boys" to be brought home from Iraq -- ended with its high combined score.
