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S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A.
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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
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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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