In a departure from our normal content, we will be guiding you through this season of American Idol from The A Cappella Blog’s perspective. We’re going to do this through the 3 Gs format.
Great/Good: Represents my thoughts on the best performance(s) of the night—these are the star-makers, the tearjerkers, the ones we’re all going to remember.
Gone: Represents my thoughts on the contestant(s) who I think is most likely to be going home (not necessarily the one I think should be going home).
Give it a second look: Represents the act(s) you might not remember, or that we might not have expected much from, but which delivered just the same, and deserve another listen.
Here are my thoughts from tonight’s episode:
GOOD
Crystal Bowersox gives us one reason she should stay here: I was skeptical of Crystal’s act in the early-going, but week in and week out she’s turning in the most consistently strong performances of anyone on Idol. Mellow as it may have been, this performance was more comfortable, confident, and professional than any act, male or female this week.
Andrew Garcia rubs things the right way: Say what you will about this being re-hash of Andrew’s “Straight Up” style from before. It was a nice twist on an established song and one of the best sounding performances this week.
The best I’ve seen highlights the very best in collegiate a cappella, as seen in the admittedly biased and limited view of the author.
This time, we share the best opening song to an ICCA set.
Over the years, Ithacappella has developed into one of the east coast’s top a cappella acts, and a perennial threat in the ICCAs. They have had plenty of memorable performances in competition, but no better opening selection than their 2008 rendition of “Get Ready” by The Temptations.
“Get Ready” is just such a smart opener. It’s upbeat and fun. It’s lyrically applicable, warning the audience and competition that they should get ready, because the group is on its way and packing heat. Furthermore, it’s the kind of song that will appeal to a wide audience, and mostly likely leave the judges warm. It’s old enough to be familiar to the more aged onlookers, but fresh enough in folks’ memories from car commercials and whatnot that you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t know it—though they might not have thought of the song in years (better yet!).
In addition to being a good song selection, the guys executed the heck out of it. There was plenty of movement, with choreography that may have grown repetitive, but was nonetheless fun and engaging. The soloist was dynamic. The group was on. This isn’t the sort of song that really wows you with dynamics, or knocks your socks off with the complex arrangement, but it doesn’t have to be, and it’s the groups way of acknowledging that it will be accessible and draw everyone in from the start before moving on to more holistically impressive things. Great opener.
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Trying to find the next ICCA show in your area? Check out our Events page!
On Saturday, February 27, a dream came true for The A Cappella Blog crew. After attending dozens of ICCA shows over the years, the blog staff had the opportunity to host its very own ICCA quarterfinal. The result was one heck of a night, filled with good music, good friends and a good time to be had by all.
A call to arms
It all started when the Varsity Vocals organization put out the call on its website, seeking a host for a Mid-Atlantic quarterfinal. It didn’t take long ACB Production Manager Mike Scalise to get on the phone with Content Manager Mike Chin with an idea.
As an alum and current employee of Nazareth College Scalise had a number of connections at the school, not the least of which was a tie to Naz’s only all-female a cappella group Call4BackUp. Working with Nazareth colleagues Jamie Fazio and Sara Rusick, Scalise and Call4BackUp secured a time and venue, and, working with ICCA Director of College A Cappella Programming Lindsay Howerton sured up the details for the event.
Each Tuesday, The A Cappella Blog presents a link to a collegiate a cappella performance, or related material, that we recommend to you.
We welcome clip suggestions from anyone who would like to submit them.
This week, we present Oxford University Out of the Blue performing Jimi Hendrix’s “Crosstown Traffic.”
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You can support music in our schools through the VH1 Save The Music Foundation by purchasing a wristband from our site. Go to our Donate to Save the Music page for more information!
Take Note is a top-notch mixed group out of Catholic University. Group President Kim Clark took the time to answer questions from The A Cappella Blog
The A Cappella Blog: What is the audition process like for Take Note?
Kim Clark (KC): This is Take Note Acapella’s third year in existence so we’ve only had a few auditions up to date. At auditions, we have students fill out a history form explaining previous singing and/or music experience. We also make them answer a goofy question, normally along the lines of, “If you could be a cartoon character, who would you be?” or, “Did you cry at the end of Titanic?”. We have each auditionee sing a verse and a chorus of a pop/rock song that shows off their range. Next we ask them to sing up and down the scales and harmonize with us. We accept people in based on the spots we need filled and their musical/vocal abilities. A big deciding factor for our officer board is whether or not this auditionee has that special “it” factor we are looking for. We love seeing students that are filled with charisma and positive, upbeat energies!
ACB: How does your group go about deciding which songs to add to its repertoire? Who is responsible for arrangements?
KC: Almost all of our arrangements are purchased from professional a cappella arrangers. Although these can get expensive, we love having songs written custom to our groups needs and strengths. Our group also spends a lot of time thinking ahead, figuring out what songs will be the next big thing. Although we keep in mind not to choose an overplayed song that too many a cappella groups have done. Recently, we’ve been picking a lot of slow tempo, alternative, ballad pieces. Slower songs are fun to work on because it allows us to closely knit-pick harmonies and hone in on each dynamic at an unhurried pace.
It all started when the Varsity Vocals organization put out the call on its website, seeking a host for a Mid-Atlantic quarterfinal. It didn’t take long ACB Production Manager Mike Scalise to get on the phone with Content Manager Mike Chin with an idea.
Director of College A Cappella Programming Lindsay Howerton sured up the details for the event.
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