The finale of the Battle for the Big O took place Saturday night at Diamond Lake's GOOD TIME Theatre and it was a GOOD time!  13 incredible acts all took to the stage to battle it out at the mic for $500 and the right to open The Big O Music Fest this Saturday at Reids Orchard. Our four judges (Mike Spurgeon from Henderson Chevrolet, Melanie Leach from Townsquare Media, Steve Terry from The Big O Music Fest, and WBKR's very own Barb Birgy) had the daunting task of picking a winner in front of a near-capacity crowd.  But, the final group of the night, Muhlenberg County's MUDD RIVER UNION, made the judges' job easy.  They not only won the judges' votes, they took command of the crowd and won their hearts and votes as well!

To claim the crown, MUDD RIVER UNION opened with a stirring and unexpected version of The Star Spangled Banner then closed with a rocking medley of Little Big Town's Little White Church and Boondocks!  The crowd was blown away as were the judges, who awarded the group a near-perfect score and the grand prize!  Mudd River Union will now open The Big O Music Fest on Saturday, July 30th and will share the stage with Sarah Darling, Steve Holy, David Nail, Jake Owen, Colt Ford, Chris Young and Dierks Bentley!  So, don't miss MUDD RIVER UNION when they take the stage at 1pm!  By the way, tickets for The Big O are still available and you can get them here!

And we have to send out big congratulations to our other top finishers.  Rachael Johnson from Nashville, TN took second prize.  Ashlie Logsdon of Leitchfield and Lauren Payne of Owensboro tied for 3rd.  Each of the acts above were awarded 4-packs of tickets to The Big O Music Fest!

Saturday night was awesome and we want to thank all the acts who performed and all the folks who bought tickets for the finale event.  It was a night of incredible performances and we are thrilled to be able to give regional talent a chance to showcase their music!  We'll back in 2012 with THE BATTLE FOR THE BIG O III!

More From WBKR-FM