Mike Chin checking in here after the ICCA and ICHSA Finals in Rugers this weekend. Avery Fisher Hall at The Lincoln Center in New York City. A lot of folks in attendance, but the crowd seemed a little on the old side—very parent and alumni heavy, in my estimation. I was expecting to see more representation from NYU students, who would have a relatively short commute to come support The N’Harmonics, but it doesn’t seem like it was to be.

For this show, we’ll be going with a he said-he said style, with both my own commentary, and the words of ACB Production Manager Mike Scalise.

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Mike Chin checking in here after quite a night in New York. Out of this show, I bear some good news and some bad news.

Bad news: This year’s ICCA finals, on the whole, did not live up to the previous year’s show. No offense to the competitors, but looking at the evening as one big showcase, there just weren’t as many big moments or finals level performances to knock me for a loop this time out.

Good news: The SoCal VoCals’ winning set gave them perhaps the best-deserved victory I’ve ever seen at an ICCA show. This is the sort of set that needs to be seen to be believed and I am proud to have been a witness to something truly fantastic. Believe the hype–this was probably the best competition set I’ve ever seen.

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Mike Chin checking in here after a solid competition at Rutgers this weekend. The Nicholas Music Center was packed with spectators and, similar to last year’s Mid-Atlantic Semifinal, there was a ‘big show’ feeling in the air. There were easily several hundred people in attendance, and it was neat to see the factions coming to cheer on their groups—a Drew University contingent up toward the stage, a Syracuse crew toward the back, a band of Ithaca backers, mostly in the middle and, of course, a majority of the crowd presenting the Rutgers faithful, there to support Casual Harmony.

For this show, we’ll be going with a he said-he said style, with both my own commentary, and the words of ACB Production Manager Mike Scalise.

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The A Cappella Blog was well-represented at tonight’s show at Rutgers. We will post our full review and photos from tonight’s Mid-Atlantic Semifinals by Tuesday at the latest.

In the meantime, the official results were:

Overall Placement:
1. Ithaca College Ithacappella
2. Penn State Shades of Blue
3. Rutgers University Casual Harmony

Outstanding Soloist: Penn State Shades of Blue for “Rain”
Outstanding Choreography: The Carnegie Mellon University Originals for “Run Freedom Run”
Outstanding Arrangement: Ithaca College Ithacappella for “Welcome to Paradise”
Outstanding Vocal Percussion: University of Rochester Vocal Point

While representatives from the blog did not agree with the exact line of placement or all of the awards, none of the picks were really out of left field for us. Many, many more details to come.

In any event, Ithacapella will make its first appearance in the ICCA Finals in New York later this month, joining The New York University N’Harmonics, The University of Southern California SoCal VoCals, Northwestern University Purple Haze, Florida State University All-Night Yahtzee and Oxford University Out of the Blue for the big show.

Event:  International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella Mid-Atlantic Quarterfinal
Date:   March 1, 2008
Location: Philadelphia, PA
  Drexel University
  The Main Building
Official Results: See end of article

Mike C checking in here after one heck of a quarterfinal in Philadelphia last night. A quick note before the review—photos from the event are available now on our Photos page.

There were some odd circumstances leading up to the event. As is my wont, I pre-ordered tickets for the show. During the week, I received a phone call from someone at Ticket Alternative, the folks who were handling pre-sales, telling me about a change in venue for the event, and giving me a new location. Then the night before the show I received an e-mail from none other than ICCA Executive Director Amanda Grish, saying that there had been some confusion, but the show would be in the original location. From there, the actual show got off to a late start. Despite an advertised start time of 7:30 p.m., the doors the auditorium didn’t even open until well after 8:00.

The venue was pretty decent—just a basic mid-sized auditorium, with a nice big stage up front. Pretty good sound. An old-style, all wood stage. It was a good place for this kind of event because it didn’t seem like a formal concert hall, but at the same time, had the seating, and a formal enough stage to fit a meaningful competition.

Fortunately, the show itself redeemed the event quite nicely. Dave, from Drexel’s all-male 8 to the Bar had emcee duties for the night, and his group opened the night with “Good Old A Cappella.” Good, harmless tune. Nothing special, nothing bad. I kind of like the choice of attire, everyone in a different polo and jeans. Just enough to be uniform, collars so they don’t look like slobs, but casual enough so it doesn’t look like a costume. I wouldn’t have liked if they were competing, but as a host group, it worked.

The Melismatics, a mixed group out of Lehigh University were the first group competing. Sizeable group, and they were looking sharp in black bottoms, red and white dressy attire on top. I liked the look.

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