Playing a Frank Sinatra classic on a conch shell helped a local bicycle tour operator take top honors in an unusual "musical" competition.

Lloyd Mager impressed judges at the 47th annual Conch Shell Blowing Contest with portions of "Strangers in the Night," as well as the classic Hebrew folk song "Hava Nagilah" and "The Alley Cat Song.""The conch shell comes with me on every single tour," said Mager, a 35-year Key West resident. "I love to blast it through the neighborhoods and play songs — and the people on my tour love it."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.

"To play the conch shell well, you need the lips and the cheek muscles," said Mager, who likened it to playing a brass instrument. "But it comes from the heart and soul."The winning group entry was an 18-piece "conchestra" whose members blew their shells while dancing to a parody of Jimmy Buffett's "Volcano."Conch shell blowing has been practiced in the Florida Keys for generations. Early settlers blew blasts to signal that a sinking ship had been spotted offshore, and native-born islanders are commonly called Conchs. The shell of the sea mollusk is a symbol of the island chain, also known as the Conch Republic.