I was excited for a new season of the "Sing-Off," with Nick Lachey. The first season was exciting with choirs of up to 50 people performing a capella songs beautifully. The second season, groups were smaller but it was still an inspiring show to watch with beautiful music sung beautifully.
Sadly, season three has devolved into small, very polished groups singing hip-hop and covers from rock artists with a lot of beatbox and other percussive effects. It's much more like a show choir atmosphere and much less interesting.
I love music. My musical tastes run the gamut from Mozart to Adele, the Muse, Green Day, and occasionally Frank Sinatra. So I have no bone to pick with the performers on this show. They're top notch and fun, etc.
But I didn't tune in to watch that. I started watching the show because it was based on the premise of bringing back choir music to America. I loved it. And now I'm disappointed. This season has been glitter and glam and the same-old, same-old. If I want this, I can watch MTV.
When is America going to have something like the Proms that European countries have? Sorry educators, but ACDA conventions just aren't the same. When you're in high school and college, there are many chances to complete with other choirs in your age ranges. After that, there are very few chances to compete with other choirs and to hear them in turn.
About 20 years ago, we had an adult choral competition here in SLC that was adjudicated by independent judges from all over the US. It was wonderful! I sang in two choirs and had a chance to listen to about 50 others over the course of three days.
I was really hoping that this televsion series would be more like that, but sadly, it's turned into something much more like American Idol. Sorry Nick, it's over for this chorister.
6 comments:
I can relate - they're two different art forms, and more and more we see a blending of the two, and a taking over of the glitz and glam.
That said, I can think of a few old choirs that really need a good poke in the bum regarding presentation! It's one thing to sing in choir, it's another to sing to an audience - and choirs often forget there's an audience out there being sung to!
It will be interesting to see the way choirs develop in the future, won't it?
Leanne! I'm so glad you left a comment. I can't get into your blog anymore. Usually, there's a way to alert the blogger that someone wants to join, but I haven't seen that with yours. Are you still blogging? Can I join so I can still read it?
It will be VERY interesting to see what happens in the choral world in the next fifty years. Technology has changed everything. This is fodder for some great blog posts.
Jane, my wife and I are still watching the Sing-off. I don't find that the musical content is really that different from season 2. I am rooting for "Afro-blue" because I'm a big fan of vocal jazz, and their arrangements have been the most interesting. For me, a little "Sing-off" fatigue is starting to set in. I think I was better off with a starting mix of 8 groups rather than 16, and while I generally like the judges, I think their comments tend to sound the same after awhile. Although, that could be because it is so difficult for them to eliminate groups.
Hi Jane - I've actually closed The Chorister blog now, as I don't sing with any choirs any more. Too much nastiness and horrible behaviour from a small number of people in the choir.
I won't talk about it here, as I'd prefer not to give the perpetrators any credit whatsoever for their nastiness! I'm looking around for another choir, but not in any rush right now, as life is pretty busy.
So I'm now spending my efforts on my composition, which is going really well, and my new blog is at http://leanneveitch.com :-) Come over and say hello!
Hi Hugh,
I agree that Afro Blue is the best group, maybe because I like jazz too. But what began as a choral competition seems to have turned into a glitzy pop competition (for the most part) and it's not why I watched it to begin with. I was hoping for something more along the lines of BBC's "the Choir". But kudos to Nick Lachey for promoting acapella! Thanks for the comment!
Leanne, I clicked over to your new blog and bookmarked it. Thanks for the link, I missed reading your posts and hearing your latest compositions.
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