She said to say thanks to all. They're very frustrated with the scoring and curious to figure out how they keep getting beat by an average of almost 50 points per song. Their ballad was the best I've ever heard them sing. I'm nitpicky as heck, having competed in Jazz singing competitions when I was young, and won multiple State and National group and solo awards. Things get very tight at the top in music competitons and a single note out of tune really can mean winning or not in a multiple song set.
They're happy their overall score went up from past years (proof that the scoring system isn't broken somehow), but it's just baffling the spread between 4th and 1st again. Karen's comment was "How in the heck do we add an additional 50 points per song?!"
They have been "in the hunt" in the top five now for ten years. It's just amazing that their best showing was 2nd Place in Indianapolis long ago, and a series of one 3rd Place, two 4th Places, and a 5th since then. I haven't seen them work harder than this year, and they can be very proud of their work. It's just heartbreaking to see them still being beat by that big a margin after all that work. They had lots of extra practices and flew in coaches from all over the world.
One comment was repeated at the afterglow party by a number of people that something one coach said really tossed a mental monkey wrench into their heads this week, and I believe it. At that level, one mental setback can throw just enough folks off their gameplan that will throw the whole game. I won't elaborate, never know who's reading. Lots of politics in an all-women's organization that big, and that's the understatement of the year.
I've been trying to figure out what it is that North Metro does (they're a perennial rival) that is that much better than Skyline, and while there have been years where it's obvious, the points spread this year is much more puzzling than some other years.
Karen joked last night that she was ready to give up on it, and that 4th Place in the world is what she'll have to settle for.... But I know they'll be back at it again next time. Next competition they'll be in barring any major disasters is Baltimore. Never been there, so maybe we will make a longer trip out of it.
Oh well. The best part this year was the tiny little chorus that her quartet sings in from Craig, CO (her quartet from Denver makes up 1/4 of the chorus) made it to Internationals for the very first time and placed 5th in the world in their first showing at International level. That's awesome. (I keep joking with her that we need a 6-place aircraft so they won't have to drive to Craig every month, sometimes twice a month, all year. She hasn't bitten on that particular idea yet. Hahaha.)
Another plus... It's always so damn impressive how the winners in these things are so gracious and wonderful. Similar to pilots, musicians just want to share. Hanging around after the competitions and seeing the "Queens" of various years standing around and mixing it up singing songs and tags with anyone brave enough to walk up and join them, is amazing. Specific kudos to the "Zing" quartet from Kansas, who hung out last night singing tags with anyone until close to 4AM (the joke was 3AM since the time change!) in the hallways of the Hyatt Regency in Denver. Amazing and nice people.
Additionally, they're well aware there are hundreds of groups who'd kill to have that 4th Place ribbon (and all the others) around their necks. Skyline always invites various other choruses to attend their large afterglow parties and sing for them, and as a chorus groupie, I find that to be the best part. Sitting hundreds of rows back at places like the Pepsi Center is fine, but grabbing a chair 10' away from a 80 person chorus at a table at the parties is always way better. Plus, the stress of competiton is over with, and they're all just up there singing for fun at that point, so they relax and have tons of fun.
City of Lakes came to the Party and did their song that makes fun of the whole thing (including an announcing package where they would "sell you the entire collection of 'Barbershop Bonanza' for only 115 EASY payments of $4.95!", done like a late night TV ad), and everyone in the room was almost crying laughing. The chorus from New Zealand (yes, American barbershop in New Zealand) performed their set (they didn't make the finals, and it costs them a whole lot of bucks to come compete -- another group of wonderful people), which included a song they custom arranged in two week's time that was a medley of two New Zealand folk songs, that they were asked to perform at the New Zealand vs. Australia rugby match last year.
And those who know what a rivalry that is, know what an honor it is to perform at such an event. We're talking the equivalent of performing at halftime of the Super Bowl here, and to hear that New Zealanders like their American Barbershop group enough to invite them to perform at the rugby matches, was impressive. That they pulled off arranging, performing, and even professionally recording the resulting song in two weeks... Impressive.
Well. That's enough rambling. The poor chorus is still planning on a Christmas show this year, even with Internationals being just finished in November, later than usual this year. They take a "bye" week after a major competition, so they have two rehearsals to prepare, and 30 new members since last year who don't know the Christmas set. Ha. That could be interesting. I suspect they'll have testing and Karen's a section tester for the Baritone section, so it'll be a busy few weeks for her... and Thanksgiving is tossed in there too. Between her schedule and my workplace schedule having gone insane... maybe we'll recover back to the "usual" overly-busy by January.
)
