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The anticipation had been building all week as Saturday drew closer, the big chorus contest looming on the horizon. Well here it was, finally, Saturday morning, and everyone hurried to get to the Gaylord Entertainment Center by mid-morning to get their seat and prepare for another amazing chorus contest. Word on the street was that this might be Northbrook's year, having won eight silver medals in past competition, constantly held back by the perennial rotation of three championship choruses, The Alexandria Harmonizers, The Vocal Majority, and the Masters of Harmony. This year, Alexandria was returning to defend their gold medals, and we knew they would be an awesome challenge as usual. I was a little late in getting to the contest, and as I made my way through the crowds to the arena area I saw that the Stone Mountain, Georgia, chorus was already on stage doing their chorus mic testing under the (new) direction of Luke Lindsay (who replaced Tim Brooks). I heard the rest of "No, No, Nora," the same terrific Clay Hine (I think) arrangement that Four Voices used in their awesome second set. Actually I watched it on the in-house closed circuit TV screen, since we weren't allowed into the arena then. I moved close in to the stairwell leading into the arena and listened to their second song, "You Keep Coming Back Like A Song" without actually being able to see them, since we were on the side in the crammed walled stairwell. Still, they sounded pretty darn good. Once the lights came on and the crowd resumed their entrance, I made my way down to the arena floor, and found an empty seat down near the front center. The curtain was closed, of course, as the first chorus in the contest took the stage and prepared to open the competition. 1) GREAT LAKES CHORUS (Grand Rapids, MI) - PIONEER District Director: Jamie Carey The curtain opened on a Little League baseball game, with players in the field, and most of the chorus making up the "fans" in the bleachers on the risers. A waist-high wall was erected in front of the risers, with typical ballpark-like ads and signs, and the fans were dressed in colorful summer garb, some in rain ponchos to ward off the rain that was ruining the game. Their first song was a parody of "Wait Til The Sun Shines, Nellie," as young "Billy" is disappointed, as the coach and others encourage him to look forward to a better day. He cheers up as they take a team photo and even the fans get involved with a wave. The chorus makes a transition in between songs, and now the players are grown up, and we're watching a major league game. I thought this was pretty clever. They were all having a great time singing "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" in a medley with another song that might be titled "That's Why We Play Ball"...? The tag intentionally lost a beat as they dropped the "For" and sang "It's one, two, three, strikes you're out at the old ball game...!" and they looked at each other in mock confusion, tried it again, still didn't have it right. The fans started tossing cans and bottles onto the field in frustration, and the coach was tossed out. Bill Rashleigh trrudged out from stage right with a trash bag to clean up the mess, but then took over and directed everyone in the right tag, "It's one, two, three, four balls you wallllkk...at the old ball game!" Another team photo at the triumphant finish, Bill falls back into the crowd as they crash in a heap. I thought this was a pretty cohesive set, and very entertaining! Nice job. 2) BIG CHICKEN CHORUS (Marietta, GA) - DIXIE District Director: Clay Hine Apparently the shuttle bus bringing choruses from the hotels was running late, and there was a delay in bringin out the next chorus. They showed a Harmony Foundation video scheduled for later in the day, and a short time later the contest resumed. The 86 men of the Big Chicken Chorus packed the risers and looked sharp in their dark tux suits and gold vests (no jacket). They sang "Ain't She Sweet," but were afraid to put both singing and choreography together for fear of screwing it up. So they sang a bit, then did a wacky move; more singing, another move. Finally they decided to try to put it all together, and it was working at first, but quickly unraveled as the song went out of control. FRED's Rick LaRosa appeared in a bizarre flamenco dancer - type outfit, and Pookie came bounding across dressed as a Spanish female dancer. The chorus attempted to form a huge human pyramid with a large Big Chicken flag at the peak, but the structure collapsed, sending everyone crashing to the ground in a pile. In past contests, the Big Chickens have managed to appear toward the end of the day, when many of the other choruses have already come and gone. This gave them a chance to make fun of the previous performances, often using similar costumes and props as other choruses and playfully mocking them in the process. This year, Big Chicken is second in the line-up, and you'd think that might spoil their chances of poking fun at other choruses who have yet to appear. Their second song lamented the early placement of the chorus this year, implying that they had "stepped over the Lyne" and offended too many people, causing the mysterious "powers that be" to purposely place them early in the contest this time. But were they sorry? In a word...no! They launched into a viciously funny attack on all the other choruses, declaring that they all "stink" in one way or another. They parodied the Vocal Majority's "Jericho," with the legendary "stomp" move, and seemed to pull up short as they came to Dr. Greg Lyne's Great American Chorus, holding up the revered Dr. Lyne as the Society's Music guru and telling themselves that they can't make fun of HIM... but then they wondered aloud how his chorus had taken third place last year, recalling that he "runs the contest, picks the judges, trains the judges, PAYS the judges...!" and then it was no hold barred as they filled the stage with exaggerated ballet moves, pirouettes, etc., the front row dancing with oversized chicken feet. It was a scream! 3) AMBASSADORS OF HARMONY (St. Charles, MO) - CENTRAL STATES DISTRICT Director: Jim Henry 12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890 4) SENATE-AIRES (Salem, OR) - EVERGREEN District Director: Steve Morin 5) HERALDS OF HARMONY (Tampa, FL) - SUNSHINE District Director: Tony DeRosa 6) SALTAIRES (Wasatch Front, UT) - ROCKY MOUNTAIN District Director: John Sasine 7) ALEXANDRIA HARMONIZERS (Alexandria, VA) - MID-ATLANTIC District Director: Scott Werner 8) NEW TRADITION (Northbrook, IL) - ILLINOIS District Director: Jay Giallombardo 9) HEART OF TEXAS (Central Texas Corridor, TX) - SOUTHWESTERN District Director: Eddie Martinez 10) CHORUS OF THE GENESEE (Rochester, NY) - SENECA LAND District Director: Maggie Swift 11) POT O' GOLD (Bay Area Metro, CA) - FAR WESTERN District Director: Gary Bolles 12) TORONTO NORTHERN LIGHTS (Toronto, ON) - ONTARIO District Director: Steve Armstrong and Chris Arnold 13) Cambridge Chord Company (Cambridge, ENG) - BABS Director: Paul Davies 14) GREAT NORTHERN UNION (Hilltop, MN) - LAND O' LAKES District Director: Roger Williams 15) SOUTHERN GATEWAY CHORUS (W. Hills/Cincinnati, OH) - JOHNNY APPLESEED Dist. Director: Paul Gilman 16) SINGING BUCKEYES (Buckeye-Columbus, OH) - JOHNNY APPLESEED District Director: Richard D. Mathey 17) MIDWEST VOCAL EXPRESS (Greendale, WI) - Land O' Lakes District Director: Russ Foris 18) THE ALLIANCE CHORUS (Greater Central, OH) - JOHNNY APPLESEED District Director: David Calland 19) GRANITE STATESMEN (Nashua, New Hampshire) - NORTHEASTERN District Director: Stave Tramack 20) THOROUGHBREDS (Louisville, KY) - CARDINAL District Director: Allen Hatton and Ken Hatton 21) GREAT AMERICAN CHORUS (Lake County, IL) - ILLINOIS District Director: Dr. Greg Lyne
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