There was a great turnout for the event as more and more students poured in as the night went on. Ten different acts performed for the crowd of about 200 people.

Blind Ambition is a local four-piece band which has been performing since 1998, but the current lineup has only been together for a week. The lineup consists of Wendy Bouwma, vocals; Mark Lajoie, drums; Derek Wright, guitar and backup vocals and Dean Nenonen, bass.

The group performed four songs; two originals and two covers. The band wrote the music to the songs, while Bouwma wrote the lyrics just before the show began.

"The band wrote the music to the originals and I wrote lyrics about a half an hour ago," she said.

Auditions took place on Nov. 5 to see what bands would be performing. To qualify to enter the event, the band must have been composed of at least 50 per cent Loyalist College students.

Three of the four members are currently attending courses at the college. Wright is a second-year broadcast journalism student, Nenonen is a second-year architecture student and Bouwma is a second-year radio broadcast student. Lajoie does not attend Loyalist and he is the only original member of the band.

Bouwma said the band felt confident even after a limited number of rehearsals.

"We have been practising together for a week. Two days really, but a week since we planned on it," she said.

For Bouwma and Lajoie, performing at the Open Mic night is not an entirely new experience as they have performed at the event in previous years.

"We've performed, but not as this band, not together. Just by myself with my guitar," said Bouwma.

Lajoie has played as a part of other bands including students from Loyalist in the past. He has never enrolled in any programs at Loyalist, but has played in a few bands with students from the college.

"Actually I played second semester last year and then first semester two years ago," Lajoie said, referring to the Open Mic.

The two have quite a bit of musical experience under their belts. Lajoie has been playing drums for about four years. He also plays guitar, which was his original position in Blind Ambition, having played for over seven years. Bouwma has been singing for 14 years and playing guitar for about seven years.

Before the show, the band was not overly concerned about winning the grand prize, but rather, just entered the event for the enjoyment of performing.

"I'd like to win the recording time," said Lajoie. "It would be cool to win, but that's not why we're here. We're here to play because we love the music."

Other bands performing included 5 O'clock Special, Tyler Clark and the winner of the grand prize for one song worth of recording time, Brainkage.

After finishing the night in second place, Blind Ambition was pleased with their performance having been the group's first public appearance with this particular lineup.