From when bartenders land – The competitors are taken care of. They get picked up at the airport, given a great practice area, free food, cheap drinks, cheap hotel rooms. The routines are streamed live online just like a real sports TV show. Scores are made public almost instantly so competitors can track their progress as the day goes on. This is a great example of how a competition should be. This is Flairmania 2014
This year the WFA Grand Slam scoring system has been updated to concentrate more on the drinks bartenders are making as well as the flair they are performing. 200 points for flair, 100 points for entertainment and 50 points for the drinks.
With this in mind we saw some fantastic creations that would rival any Mixology competition, and we look forward to seeing what the rest of the year will bring.
So the results
6th place: Rapolas Vareika
Gaining his first Purple Level, congratulations to Rapolas. He made a great drink and had some cool moves to go with it.
5th place: Vaclav Abraham
The Czech monster. He has got some super difficult moves. Just didn’t pull it off as cleanly as he normally does.
4th place: There is no 4th, as there was a joint 3rd position.
3rd place: Alexander Shtifanov
Having had one of his best routines to date he had the highest flair score of the day. Unfortunately he did not manage to finish his drink, missing out on his garnishes and that resulted in a heavy penalty which saw him loose 3 places in the final standings
3rd place: Marek Posluszny
A solid routine and a great cocktail saw Marek score high in all categories. He’s a seasoned pro and knows how to tick the boxes.
2nd place: Luca Valentine
A zero drop routine had him up there with the top flair scores of the day. Scoring a low mark on his cocktail led to Luca loosing out by a few points in the final standings.
1st place: Tomek Malek
Bringing a few new moves to the table, landing his old favourites and creating one of the best drinks of the day is what got Tomek in first place. A great all round performance and well deserved.
The next Grand Slam is being held in Groningen, in Holland. Check the Grand Slam page on the website for more details.
See you there
The WFA Team