Mercer Island High School senior Mary Davis placed second in her March 28 appearance on “Gimmie The Mike 2” on KONG TV.

She sang her signature “Autumn Leaves,” as a jazz standard.

Although she didn’t win, she thought the judges were nice to her.

“One judge said in the beginning he wasn’t sure how the song was going to turn out,” she related. “But then he said, `When the music stopped and I could hear your voice clearly, I thought that your talent surpassed even your beauty, which was really hard to do.’ That was such a nice compliment, I blushed.”

This was Davis’ second time trying out for the show.

The 17-year-old redhead had auditioned with fellow MIHS student Matt Brown for the first “Gimmie The Mike” because Brown insisted she do so, she said. However, once the KONG TV crew came in to congratulate Brown on being picked as a contestant, Davis knew she didn’t make the cut. She was crushed.

“It was like something out of a bad movie since I was sitting right there, sobbing,” she said.

The show producer then asked Davis to be the first alternate and sing before each of the five taping sessions to warm up the audience. Davis said she felt she got the better end of the deal, as the contestants had the opportunity to only sing once.

As president of the high school jazz choir, Davis has developed a jazzy vocal style, she said.

Of the 800 people who audition for “Gimmie The Mike 2,” 35 finalists are chosen, and are broken up into groups of seven contestants to tape five shows.

The overall winner is selected from finalists picked by judges and viewers.

Davis plans on attending college in Los Angeles, where she hopes to major in broadcast journalism and minor in music.

KONG TV will air further episodes of “Gimme The Mike 2” on Mondays at 8:30 p.m. through April 25, except for the final show which will start at 8 p.m.

The Bradbury Press

The Bradbury Press, a band named after a print shop on Aurora Avenue in Seattle, recently played an “all ages” show at Chop Suey on Capitol Hill on March 30. The group shared the stage with two other bands, Tristan Prettyman and The Southland, and played songs from its new CD entitled “The Front.”

The Bradbury Press plays a mixture of equal parts “acoustic-tinged rock and power pop” and its sound is based on “well crafted songs, written by both lead vocalist Darren Golden and lead guitarist Dave Brewer, and on the strong musical rapport they share with drummer Greg Garcia and bass guitarist Travis Hartman,” according to the band’s promotional material.

A 1996 Mercer Island High grad, Garcia took up the drums in middle school on the Island.

“I played in the jazz band, the marching band and nearly every other band for all four years in high school,” he said. “Music has always been my main focus in life, since I was 6 years old and my sister got me hooked on drums.”

Garcia got involved with The Bradbury Press two years ago.

“I started helping them book shows, and then when they needed a drummer, I signed up, because I’d always loved their music,” he said.

For more information, visit The Bradbury Press Web site at www.thebradburypress.com.