BURBANK! at the begining of your set, when the first soloist starts conducting you guys, that sounded beautiful!!!!! it gave me chills, especially the sopranos!
btw, im not going to post powerhouse's set on youtube, Häakon asked me not to, seeing them live is a lot better when you dont know what to expect. if someone else posts powerhouse's set i suggest you not watch even if you realllly want to, wait till you see them live! and if you know youre not going to watch powerhouse live this year then that sucks for youuu! haha and you should just wait until it gets on youtube. for those of you in powerhouse, are you guys done with your set? or are you going to add another number to it? congrats on 1st place!
i love being able to see all our good choirs from socal in ONE competition! :D i cant wait to see los al! and chula!
BURBANK! at the begining of your set, when the first soloist starts conducting you guys, that sounded beautiful!!!!! it gave me chills, especially the sopranos!
btw, im not going to post powerhouse's set on youtube, Häakon asked me not to, seeing them live is a lot better when you dont know what to expect. if someone else posts powerhouse's set i suggest you not watch even if you realllly want to, wait till you see them live! and if you know youre not going to watch powerhouse live this year then that sucks for youuu! haha and you should just wait until it gets on youtube. for those of you in powerhouse, are you guys done with your set? or are you going to add another number to it? congrats on 1st place!
i love being able to see all our good choirs from socal in ONE competition! :D i cant wait to see los al! and chula!
I absolutely loved In Sync costume idea. I was kinda sad that they used almost the identical closing outfits as last year but it was cool how the "leads" stayed in their beginning outfits the entire time.
-Haha you have a good memory! The guys actually are wearing the closer costumes from last year! This years closer costumes for the guys haven't come in yet, so we improvised :D
This isn't Everett..it's Gail Hart, director of Sound Vibrations...couldn't log on with my password..maybe Haakon, you could help me....anyway..to address why we went AA: It's simple, really... 37 kids in Sound Vibrations vs. 64 in Brea, or 51 and 56 in Burroughs and Burbank. We can sing with the volume of two people, but if those other groups are doing it also...we will be constantly frustrated. We're trying to keep up with the B's, so we'll just have to see what happens later in the season. By the way, we won't be in any special division at FAME LA or NY.
I really like this concept thing...don't understand why we ever did it any other way. Although it took Gerald, Elyse and I FOREVER to figure it out..I really like it. The strong competition between Burroughs and Burbank forces everyone to really push the envelope. It's true, show choir is evolving...don't know how long it will take to spread to the other parts of the country...but this is very exciting and entertaining!
Thanks to everyone for your great comments. I love how positive everyone is.
Okay, time for my take on the whole thing for those who care!
Carlsbad kicked butt! (No, i'm not just saying that cause they are my old choir). They really brought something different to the stage this year and are better then they have been in along while. Yeah, they got fourth. But I mean, when competing against Powerhouse, Insync, and Masquerade it's kinda tough.
I absolutely loved In Sync costume idea. I was kinda sad that they used almost the identical closing outfits as last year but it was cool how the "leads" stayed in their beginning outfits the entire time. Some of the choreography changes were a little strange but it worked with the set the way it is now. (such as: not having "Leonardo" be kicked around on stage near the beginning. He just stood there all...machine like) It worked with the costumes but I kinda liked the kicked around idea. I don't know...
Powerhouse, epic as always. The soloists I think were much more "on it" tonight than at Burbank Blast and it really made a big improvement. I loved the new choreography for their opener and the new songs they unveiled.
Masquerade was very Brea-y in the beginning. You know, crazy smiles, awesome cheesy dancing and more props than you've ever seen in your life. (I love it) However, I thought it was very interesting how around "Part 3" they went in to a TOTALLY different feel and kinda explored the "burbank/burroughs" side of show choir? I loved the heartbreaker/sweet dreams mix and the closing soloist was beyond incredible.
Hart Sound Vibes are a AAA choir. They were beyond fantastic and I was blown away by their performance! I loved all the costumes and definitely the choreography where they were being "controlled" by a "puppet master" kinda of thing. I also liked how you guys had black side boards so you couldn't see the people sneaking on and off the stage in the back. Totally provided an awesome element of suprise!
Serrano Vocal Point! AHHHHH! Okay me = scared and super happy at the same time. You definitely captured the whole audience in even from the very beginning of your set and kept their attention all the way through. I thoroughly enjoyed your soloists and definitely your song choices. Gotta love the straight jacket numbers!
My scoring:
AA:
Hart Sound Vibes
Serrano Vocal Point
Arcadia Chanteurs
AAA:
Burbank In Sync
John Burroughs Powerhouse
Brea Olinda Masquerade
Carlsbad Sound Express
Not trying to put down Powerhouses/Arcadias wins, I just think that's how it should've gone. I love all these choirs sooo sooo much and I wish everyone could take first place! :D Good luck at the next one!
What would be a better test and assessment of all the choirs is to give every group the some repertoire, costumes, choreography, riser formation, band and arrangements. Then see how everyone does. THat would be a standardized way of competition...I'm just saying it would be interesting to try.
I feel like we are really getting to the point of needing some kind of standardization across the country in regard to show choir because it is a national activity and yet we're still really fragmented as a whole.
I know this has been a frustrating issue for myself, as a choreographer. Where is the standardization? The "rule book"? Or the committee that oversees the whole arena of competitive show choir? We're not even unified across the country in our "requirements" for our shows. What is good show choir vs. great show choir? THe ability to entertain? Well, unfortunately, entertainment isn't found very often on the score sheets. Those sheets come down to singing and dancing. But to what extent? The lack of structure and unity really frazzles me, because as someone working with my choirs constantly, I don't have a real "rubric" and regulations to work off of.
We, the Show Choir directors chose that format "AA" and "AAA" this past summer.
Hi Tony,
Thanks for your contribution. I do understand what's trying to be done; it just brings up some interesting questions and I still think the terminology is a little confusing (where's the "A" division, then?). I was actually just discussing this issue with a friend from the midwest where a similar situation is emerging. I feel like we are really getting to the point of needing some kind of standardization across the country in regard to show choir because it is a national activity and yet we're still really fragmented as a whole.
There's no question that show choir has evolved immensely over the last several years and it's getting rather difficult to put in a box. At one end of the spectrum, you have groups who are singing and performing choreography well and that's essentially the extent of what they do. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that; that's largely what we all did for the better part of 30 years. At the other end, though, you have groups exploring complex themes through art, or in the case of Burbank last night, going as far as weaving pop songs into a mini-musical complete with plot and characters and layered meanings. It was 180 degrees different from what a group like, say, Arcadia was doing. Are both valid? Yes, this is art and it's subjective and it's one of the things that makes show choir exciting. I think an argument could even be made that each is more suited for "show choir" than the other. But this *is* a competition, and by that very nature, a judge has to decide which show is "better."
The way I look at it is that the "advanced" division itself has sort of evolved through the years. The groups last night who were in what you are calling the "AAA" division, in my opinion, clearly demonstrated a different caliber of show. I would have included Hart in this division as well, but I respect their choices. (I have heard that Serrano also gave a fantastic performance; unfortunately due to the rain I was quite a bit late arriving and did not get to watch them). I would concede that the ability to perform these kinds of shows is definitely influenced by the number of people onstage. It is also clearly easier to sing with more volume and greater dynamic range with more students in a choir. But perhaps simply executing material well isn't the only criteria we should be using anymore. It's a new era, and there are individuals and groups out here who have raised the bar considerably. To them I say kudos, because they're keeping our activity current and relevant.
I realize that this is a high school level activity and there are many challenging limitations to deal with. Fundraising is a huge issue, schools are different sizes, other programs within a school may vie for students' attention. Creating and maintaining a successful show choir year after year is not an easy task, no matter who you are. I respect all of our directors and completely understand that every group's situation is different. But I also believe that the people who are really driven to do something just find a way to make it happen. Dave Willert has moved schools three times since I've been involved with show choir, and he has managed to make the show choir programs flourish at each one almost overnight. I find it hard to believe that it's simply about "who has money" or is in a "connected area."
Let's please also remember that this is show choir. If standing there and singing beautifully were the only thing that mattered, we'd just as well be chamber choirs and we could pack up all these costumes and backdrops and save ourselves a whole lot of time and energy.
Essentially what this all boils down to is that show choir is at a totally different place than it was ten years ago. What may have been "simply amazing" at one point is now just not competitive at the far end of the spectrum. That doesn't mean that groups without big shows aren't good choirs, or that they don't have heart, or that they aren't wonderful people. It just means that to be in that upper echelon of show choir these days, you have to go that extra mile. And I think it is good that we have different divisions for choirs, so that groups who don't do things "as big" can compete against similar groups and still be recognized for their efforts. But whether you want to call it "AAA" or "heavy" or "advanced" or "on a different level than," you're saying the same thing. The "next tier" can be called "AA" or the "intermediate" level or whatever suits you. I'm just choosing to stick to the traditional division names at this time because we need uniformity and "advanced/intermediate/novice" provides a lot more clarity than "AAA/AA."
Lucky you, you'll get to see Powerhouse at your very own school in one month and all your questions will be answered!
In all honesty, though, the live experience is better for ANY choir than a YouTube video - especially the first time you see a show. I appreciate those who are refraining from posting clips until these groups have a chance to go to their national competitions. They want their sets to be fresh and exciting for those audiences just as much as they do back at home. I'm sure all of the Midwest groups feel the same way.
What an outstanding display of talent and creativity tonight. (Uhm... last night?) Innovation abounds in California, without any sacrifice of technique. Kudos, especially, to Serrano and Hart: absolutely terrific shows both.
Thank you so much! We had a really great time putting this show together and we love performing it!
What an outstanding display of talent and creativity tonight. (Uhm... last night?) Innovation abounds in California, without any sacrifice of technique. Kudos, especially, to Serrano and Hart: absolutely terrific shows both.
I don't know who decided to call these things "AA" and "AAA," but I think those labels are silly and don't describe anything. At this point, I'm just going to refer to them as small mixed and large mixed, since they're being divided by choir size. But a choir like yours just goes to show it's really all about ability anyway, which is how the divisions were always separated before...
Haakon,
We, the Show Choir directors chose that format "AA" and "AAA" this past summer. Here is a more in depth explanation.
The Advanced Mixed Division - Redefined
There will be TWO different categories for the ADVANCED MIXED DIVISION now.
AA (Double A) will be Advanced High School Show Choirs that have under 40 performers.
AAA (Triple A) will be Advanced High School Show Choirs that have OVER 40 performers. (Heavy Division)
*Directors have the discretion to enter their groups into EITHER the AA or AAA division.
*A group with less than 40 may enter into the AAA division if they desire.
*There will STILL be an Intermediate division for Intermediate show choirs and Prep groups.
*All-Girls will stay at Intermediate and Advanced
*A director may BUMP up their group from Intermediate to AA or from AA to AAA during the year if he/she desires. BUT MAY NOT BUMP DOWN during the year.
Diamond Bar Show Choir Spectacular 2010
