Mike Chin checking in after a remarkable ICCA Finals at Lincoln Center in New York City. This was the fourth straight year I’ve been to the big show, and this was quite arguably the most competitive, and most memorable Final I’ve seen. I had mixed feelings going into the night. On one hand, I liked the idea of a more streamlined show that would result from separating the high school and collegiate finals shows; on the other hand, I sort of enjoyed the experience of ODing on a cappella on a Saturday night each April by getting to see 10-12 competition sets. Nonetheless, there was still plenty to cheer for with six really strong collegiate finalists, plus exhibitions from three of the preceding night’s high school finalists, and the professional a cappella stylings of Duwende. All that, and I got to meet John Park!

The night was all the more special for the packed house in Alice Tully Hall. The finals have always drawn a decent crowd, but I think this was the flat-out largest crowd I’ve seen for the show. What’s more, it was an enthusiastic audience that seemed ready and poised for a clap-along, a cheer, and standing ovation throughout the night.

Before we get to the review, a quick summary:

The Competitors:
The SoCal VoCals (University of Southern California)
The Buffalo Chips (SUNY Buffalo)
The Accidentals (University of Georgia)
Purple Haze (Northwestern University)
Pitch Slapped (Berklee College of Music)
Divisi (University of Oregon)

Guest Groups:
Duwende
N’Harmonic Fusion (DeKalb High School)
The Town Criers (Weston High School)
Limited Edition (Port Washington High School)

Emcee: Dave Brown

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Mike Chin checking in after a very memorable International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) Mid-Atlantic Semifinal at Rutgers University.

For the third consecutive year, the lovely Nicholas Music Center was the venue for this show, and for the second straight year, it happened on a Friday night. Rutgers University Shockwave hosted the event, and two of the group members had emcee duties for the night.

Before we get to the review, a quick summary:

The competitors:
After Hours (University of Rochester)
Casual Harmony (Rutgers University)
The Melismatics (Lehigh University)
The Pointercounts (SUNY Potsdam)
Onoscatopoeia (University of Toronto)
The Buffalo Chips (SUNY Buffalo)
Kaskeset (SUNY Binghamton)
The OrphanSporks (Rutgers University)

Host Group:
ShockWave (Rutgers University)

Photos from the event are available now on our Facebook page.

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Jillian Kimberlin is a member of Rutgers University Shockwave. This is her first review for The A Cappella Blog.

After watching the ICCA quarterfinal in Rochester in mid-march, I decided I had so much to say about a cappella and not enough people to listen. So, luckily, The A Cappella Blog was hosting that competition, so I spoke with Mike Chin and decided to review for ACB. So, I made the trek all the way from good old’ Rutgers University all the way to Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the Northeast semifinals. As I walked up to this magnificent building, I stopped to take in the beautiful structure with glass windows and a detailed, dome copper roof that met at the ground three times, which is called the Kresge Auditorium.

The lights dimmed in the audience and your attention was drawn this beautiful, wood panel stage. You were also drawn to this humongous organ to Stage Left, lights on the sidewalls, lower level and upper level seating, and free-hanging acoustic “clouds” from the ceiling that contained more speakers and lights. I walked in late, so I missed MIT’s Resonance’s opening song, but made it just in time to find the Jabberwocks starting the competition off right.

As the gentlemen of Brown University’s The Jabberwocks walked onto the stage, an image of Ithaca College’s all-male group, Ithacappella, ran through my mind. They both don the navy blue blazer and khaki look, with different colored ties. I soon had that image leave my mind as the Jabberwocks gave their first pitch. They started off the night by singing a hip-hop medley of “I’ve Got a Feeling” by Black Eyed Peas, “All the Above” by Maino featuring T-Pain, and “Beautiful” by Akon featuring Colby O’Donis and Kardinal Offishall, which definitely pleased the audience. It was a fun song with varied soloists, fun choreography, and some awesome Vocal Percussion. They then slowed it down into Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine,” which really captivated the audience. As they first started the song, I remembered hearing them sing this in the same competition two years ago with a soloist I could not forget, Teng Yang. I was interested to see if the new soloist could live up to Yang’s rendition, and was pleasantly surprised that he could. It was a beautiful and smooth solo, with a great arrangement and kick-ass VP that cannot be forgotten. Then came their final song, the popular hit, “Use Somebody” by Kings of Leon. I usually dislike when groups sing songs that are played way too much on the radio, but I thoroughly enjoyed this interpretation. The soloist was powerful and engaging and had an amazing tone to his voice. The arrangement was full with some great harmonies, but the VP was lacking a bit, especially after some great beat boxing in the first two songs.

All in all, The Jabberwocks were a perfect opener for the show. Their energy was great, and it looked like they were having a ball, even though it didn’t always show on their faces. Their set was fun and innovative and set the bar for the rest of the groups.

Next, The Nor’easters from Northeastern University joined the stage. This co-ed group was full of some sexy ladies looking classy in matching gray skirts, black tops, black stockings and heels and some (not-AS-sexy) men in black suits and gray ties. The group came out and started with “Stronger” by Britney Spears, which could always go one of two ways. In this case, I would say it wasn’t the best choice for a song. When singing Britney Spears, although she does lip-sync herself, you have to have some kind of pop and sass that was sort of lacking from this soloist. I’m also not a big fan of unnecessary choreography, which they definitely had throughout their entire set. Choreography can definitely help you in some cases, and can be a disadvantage in others. The greatest part of this song and their set in general, however, was that they were very energetic and looked like they were generally having a good time up there. There’s not much to say about their third song, “Show Me What I’m Looking For” by Carolina Liar. It sounded okay, but was a bit chaotic, vocally and visually. Not much to say about anything except the ending chords, which was probably the prettiest the sounded during the entire song. Their last song, “Crawl” by the well know Chris Brown, saved them a bit after a not-so-memorable start. They had a ton of fun, although their was a bit of a balance issue, and they finished with a nice ending to of the group bowing their heads while the soloist finished his last line.

The Nor’easters did not have the greatest arrangements and they didn’t have the greatest soloists to add, but they definitely had a lot of fun on stage with each other, and to me, in the end, that’s all that matters.

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Mike Chin checking in here after my very first trip to the great state of Michigan, and my very first International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) Midwest Semifinal.

The University of Michigan GMen hosted the event, which occurred at The Michigan Theater, not far removed from The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. It was a lovely, old-style venue, and Saturday night found most of its 1,700 seats filled with a lively crowd.

Before we get to the review, a quick summary:

The competitors:
The University of Michigan Dicks and Janes
University of Michigan Amazin’ Blue
Illinois State University Secondary Dominance
The University of Michigan GMen
Missouri State University A Cub Bella
The Washington University Stereotypes
Northwestern University Purple Haze
The Northwestern University Undertones

Host Group:
The GMen

Emcee and Special Guest:
Alan Smola

Guest Group:
Michigan State University Capital Green

Photos from the event are available now on our Facebook page.

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Lauren Barreiro is the music director of the Florida State University AcaBelles. This is her first review for The A Cappella Blog.

On Saturday night in Greensboro, NC I found it quite odd to be taking a seat in the Aycock Theater rather than nervously awaiting my group’s turn to take the stage for ICCA South Semifinals. Having been there with AcaBelles just last year, I knew everything the performers were feeling and was almost nervous for them.

The lights lowered as the University of North Carolina-Greensboro Spartones took the stage with a Black Eyed Peas medley starting the show appropriately with “Let’s Get It Started”. The lovely Lindsay Howerton followed with the usual Varsity Vocals ICCA welcome and announcement of the show’s order. It was Florida State University’s All-Night Yahtzee, University of Maryland PandemoniUM, Clemson University Tigeroar, University of North Carolina-Greensboro Sapphires, University of Georgia Accidentals, College of William and Mary DoubleTake, The Georgetown Phantoms, and University of Florida No Southern Accent. As we awaited ANY’s set, the emcee for the night, Nick Lyons, very appropriately instructed the audience on proper clapping techniques for each set- short claps between songs and thunderous applause as each group got on and off stage. All-Night Yahtzee, however, didn’t even allow the audience to use their newly acquired skills.

With a seamless set consisting of a Lady Gaga mashup of “Bad Romance” and “Love Game”, a gorgeous rendition of Peter Bradley’s “Lay Your Head Down”, and what was hands down the most adorable moment of the show, Hello Goodbye’s “Here (In Your Arms)” as a duet between a male and female member of the group, All-Night Yahtzee set the bar for the following groups to reach. The first piece featured one soloist on the familiar “Ra ra ra ah ah…” of “Bad Romance” that fully embodied the attitude needed to take on Lady Gaga, however I found myself just wanting more in attitude, volume, and overall Gaga-ness from the second soloist singing “Love Game”. The choreography was quirky and appealing but left me wanting Yahtzee to take up more of the stage. They’re a large group and didn’t seem to manipulate the space they were given to their advantage. The warm tone of the soloist on “Lay Your Head Down” really allowed for the message of the song to come through to the audience and was quite beautiful to listen to. What would have really taken it to the next level is if the group matched the soloist in his story-telling. Thoughtful choreography and use of sign language seemed to be the proper choice and was pretty to look at but lacked the emotion and commitment from each member to really pull it off. “Here (In Your Arms)” was a very smart choice on Yahtzee’s behalf and was the only memorable moment in which any of the 5 mixed groups that competed used having both sexes to their advantage, also allowing the very intense group to become much more accessible.

The set, in general, was often bottom heavy and many of the intricacies of the arrangements were lost. However, percussive syllables, creative choreography, and the fact that no pitches were played through the entire set allowed Yahtzee to remain memorable throughout the show.

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