For the past two months, local singers have hit the stage of Tabu Lounge and Sports Bar in a competition to be named Songbird – the best singer in Philadelphia. Sixteen contestants started the journey over eight weeks ago, competing in weekly elimination rounds in front of local judges and an opinionated crowd at Tabu. In the end, only one left with the title. This season's Songbird winner is Jo Stones. Stones is a local musician living in New Jersey who was very excited to win, "I am so honored to have sung along with such an amazing group of musicians/performers, " Stones said, "Not gonna lie, this shit was so intense." 

This unique event was the brainchild of Josh Schonewolf and Matt O'Neill, who also hosted the series. "I love creating ways of bringing people together, and I put this spell on myself to create a singing competition," said Schonewolf.

"Josh and I spoke a while ago about creating a show that wasn't drag centric." said O'Neill. "About a month before the show started he came back to me and told me about his Songbird project he had been working on and asked me to host the show, which I happily accepted."

They gathered a team of judges that included Keith Stiles, manager of Tabu, Freddy Shelly, previous manager of Tabu, Bill Chenevert, senior music writer for Philadelphia Weekly, and Richard Villaverde, dancer at Ballet X. 

Songbird features a wide variety of performers, some who were new to singing and others who took time away from their bands to take part in the contest. Contestants were challenged each week to stretch their musical muscle.

"I always tried to keep the challenges hard but also I wanted the contestants to not feel restricted by it. For example, mash-up week was tough for some but Lobstar Bisque rose to the occasion and used that night to come out as the opera singer that she is. She sung Miley's 'We Can't Stop' mixed with 'Ave Maria.' I mean…Genius!" exclaimed Schonewolf.

"If I had to pick out a week that I felt was challenging, it would have been the gender fuck week. It forced every contestant to take a song from an artist of the opposite sex, and make it their own. It forced each contestant to step out of their comfort zone and create a song that fit their vocal range," said O'Neill. 

In the end, the two finalists were Stephani Brown and Jo Stones. Both pulled out amazing performances for their final number and it was a tough call for the judges. Finally, Stones won the title to the delight of the judges and the crowd. "Jo had a presence on stage … that got the crowd involved," said O'Neill. "You could tell he was having fun, and through that, made the rest of us have fun watching him."

Schonewolf added, "Jo Stones stood out from day one. He's infectious live, he's beautiful, fun and bouncy, his singing is pitch-perfect, and he's arguably the best musician of the 16 contestants. A lot of people in the audience, who came week-after-week are true-blue fans of his and I can truly say that the world is his oyster – He's earned this big win"

Stones thanked his boyfriend and mother who came out each week to support him.

As part of the prize, Stones will perform at his own concert on January 3-5 at the Adrienne Theatre. The top eight will open the show while Jo Stones headlines. Tickets are $12 and may be purchased at the door, or via Facebook.