I think it is finally settling in that the men glorify the quartet. Men's International has three days of quartet competing. The first day is 52 qualifying quartets singing their two songs in the quarter-finals. The second day includes the top 20 quartets singing (hopefully different!) two songs in the semi-finals. The quartets get a day of rest while all the choruses compete for their one day before the competition rounds out with final 10 quartets doing their package. There is no show of champions; the quartet finals _is_ the show everyone is waiting for.
SAI glorifies the chorus and likes the quartet. SAI has a day of all qualifying quartets singing their two songs, then a day where all qualifying choruses compete with their two songs. Next we get a day of quartet finals where the top 10 quartets do their package followed by the last day where the top 10 choruses compete. Lastly, the women put on a show with their top winners of all the categories.
On the one hand, I like the idea of multiple days of quartet competition. To go from 52 quartets to 10 is a strict job and singing on the international stage must be nerve-wracking. Having the opportunity to have a second chance if you didn't bomb your first attempt would be nice. On the other hand, I don't think I'm looking forward to sitting in the audience for another 4 hours today for the semi-finals after sitting from 10-3 and again from 4:30-9:30 for the second half. If I were listening to choruses today, I think I'd feel better about the sitting.
I think I am going to miss seeing chorus packages. I enjoy the singing but I like a show, too. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
Here are my observations from the quartet semi-finals:
- Many, if not most, of the quartets stand somewhat overlapping. The two in the center are rarely shoulder to shoulder but instead overlap. The two end people also overlap the people in the back. This makes the cup closer and probably makes it easier to hear each other.
- This works because there isn't nearly as much planned choreo in the men's quartets as there is in the women's. There is some planned movement but I would say that it is the exception rather than the rule. The men could use a few lessons in choreo that doesn't involve wandering hands. The hands tend to move as the individual parts move which means there is a constant flow of movement. It really distracting from my audience perspective.
- I am particularly tired of the "weighing a woman's breasts" move. Bring the hands up (palms up) to breast level, pause a moment to make the moment special, lift up your hands, smile, and gently lower your hands back to waist level. By the 4th quartet, I was really tired of this particular move. By the 52nd quartet, I just watched with my eyes closed.
- A few quartets did appear to have applied blush. No foundation and the blush was on the cheek hollows rather than the apples. And did I mention that there was no blending or feathering? Just a swash of color the way a 3 year old might do. Yes, the guys need makeup but when they see the results of what they are doing, no wonder they don't want to wear it!
- Many of the quartets had great chords but only the ones where the mouth-shapes matched had any ring that I could hear. I know I've heard this before, but watching 52 quartets ended up being a great way to get the experience I needed to really cement this in my brain. Time to haul out the video camera for my quartet...
- Lots of the quartets came out on stage before they were announced so that they had a shape on stage that contributed to their presentation. It worked for me and it varied the stage entrances to make the contest more interesting.
- Some quartets had the people going to the farthest side of the stage run or job across the stage. Not only did this leave two members with a breath deficit at the beginning of their set, it wasn't necessarily attractive to watch. Not every barbershopper is in great shape and not many people like to see bulky bellies bouncing like a basketball as the person runs across the stage.
- Many of the quartets began their set with the lead singing a solo, then another part joining in on the next phrase, followed by the last two parts on the third phrase. It made for very tender song beginnings but I think that would add immense pressure to the lead. I don't think that sort of thing is legal in SAI but again, it added some nice variety to the 52 quartet march.
- Again, a really nice mix of classic and newer arrangements. BHS is having a "disagreement" at the moment about whether modern songs with modern chording
On the one hand, I understand better now how important those classic songs are. They really do have a different sound and it is the sound I associated with barbershop before I joined AJoy. It is a sound that brings back the feeling of the old times when life was simpler. The chording is easy to harmonize with which makes it much easier to woodshed. If people have a firm foundation in these older, square songs, they'll have a better sense of barbershop chord structure. That has to be beneficial.
On the other hand, the old songs pretty much sound the same because they use the same chords over and over in fairly predictable patterns. Newer songs evoke more recent times and are more entertaining to listen to when there are a lot of them.
Given 52 quartets, if they had all sung modern arrangements, I doubt I'd be able to tell you anything about barbershop other than it is 4 part a cappella harmony. Add in a healthy dose of the more traditional barbershop songs, and I could probably hum a few bars of what I'd call barbershop music. Better yet, I'd be willing to try to harmonize with you if you sang a few bars. If they'd all sung traditional barbershop songs, I'd have left after the 10th quartet to drown my sorrows.
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