Sinatra song helps man win conch blowing contest

[March 10, 2009]  KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) -- Playing a Frank Sinatra classic on a conch shell helped a local bicycle tour operator take top honors in an unusual "musical" competition in Key West. Lloyd Mager impressed judges at the 47th annual Conch Shell Blowing Contest on Saturday with portions of "Strangers in the Night," as well as the classic Hebrew folk song "Hava Nagilah" and "The Alley Cat Song."

Mager, a 35-year-old Key West resident, likens playing a conch shell to playing a brass instrument.

Judges evaluated contest entrants, who ranged from less than 3 years old to seniors, on the quality, novelty, duration and loudness of the sounds they produced.

The winning group entry was an 18-piece "conchestra" whose members blew their shells while dancing to a parody of Jimmy Buffett's "Volcano."

[Associated Press]

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