Ben Stephens won the grand prize of  the Admiral Theatre’s Sounds of the Season with an old-school beat box performance.

Stephens performed with more than a dozen other acts on Dec. 16 at the Admiral Theatre. It was the 12th year the production played its talent show during the holidays.

“It was the most original thing I saw all night. And what a huge audience response,” said Sunny Wheeler, talent judge, Admiral Theatre supporter and parks board member.

The music student from Olympic College used a recording machine and his voice to create a “one man symphony” layered into an improvised hip-hop track.

Beat boxing is a vocal percussion that was popular in the 1980s and early 1990s and grew out of cities as kids found ways to make music when they couldn’t afford instruments, Stephens said.

With nine years of beat boxing under him, Stephens last week used a looping machine to sample his voice then layered one sound on top of the other. The result was a track that Stephens’ describes as a “one-man symphony,” a single voice mimicking 12 to 15 different tones at once.

Stephens said his unique style of beat box comes from looping the tracks freestyle.

“Each song is created on the spot and never the same twice. I may throw stuff in on the spot, depending on my mood,” said Stephens.

He said that the “unexpected” is his favorite aspect of the art form.

“You mess up the first beat and there’s no recovery. You just have to stop the recording. That’ll make your palms sweaty,” said Stephens.

Emcee Greg Bennick explained that Stephens “enchanted” fellow competitors backstage. Performers crowded near the stage curtain to get a better look at Stephens’ unusual act, he said.

Stephens studies music at Olympic College. He also teaches looping and beat boxing online through YouTube videos. Stephens said he’s had about 90,000 views.

Given his music’s history and approach to sound, Stephens said he never thought he would win the Sounds of the Season competition against more traditional recital type acts.

“Every time I heard another 5-year-old ballet prodigy getting ‘awws’ from the audience, I thought, oh man. But I’m just here to do my thing,” Stephens said.

Other performers in this year’s show included the newly-crowned Miss West Sound Hannah Price, 2009 Port Orchard Idol winner Christine Salazar and 11-year old Paige Lawson fresh from her recent performance for South African Archbishop Desmund Tutu.

Judges Wheeler, Lynnea Tweed, and David Nelson were asked to evaluate each performer based on quality, originality, overall appeal, and audience response.

“All the performers have come so far, and came here tonight stage-ready. But he had that sound. Everybody just loved it,” said Nita Hartley, development director for the theatre.

Second place went to Salazar for a vocal and guitar performance of her original song “Stay with Me.”

Third place went to The Northwest School of Dance featuring JPB Ballet for their dance “Ghosts of Christmas Past.”

All winners received a trophy and Stephens received the grand prize of $500.

Stephens said he would use the prize money to buy presents for family.