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Marti's turn. Laurie gets to rest her fingers from her afternoon of
typing and Mary decided to skip the show (horrors!) - Jane and I
have the privileged seats tonight - this year we are happy that the
Coronet Club has seen to it that our table and power strip are
available!! Got back from a real food dinner (for the first time
since Tuesday) at about 7:15 and spent the waiting time in a back
room in the arena, catching up on my email! As usual, the Coronet
Club has hired a band to play to entertain us as everyone takes their
seats. It is the Mark Barnett Band, and they are right over my
shoulder as I type. Shortly after I sat down, the guitarist right
behind me leaned over and said "boo" and nearly scared me to death as
I have to sit with my back to the band. I may never hear again, but
the music is delightful and I'm not particularly a country fan!!
People are dancing in the aisles, of course.

As usual, the first item of business is introducing (by Mike Maino -
the "voice") the 2003 Queens of Harmony, Swinglish Mix, who enter the
auditorium to "Pretty Woman" and two take their VIP seats (the other
two are in the chorus, of course). Then the Coronet Club chorus
enters to the strains of the same song as the entire audience claps
in time!! All of the Coronets are wearing combinations of black and
white - what a lovely chorus this makes!! Renee, who was just
dancing in the VIP section a few moments ago, leads the clapping from
the stage.

The chorus sings, "Nashville is the Place to Be, Friday Night in
Tennessee... Welcome to the Coronet Club Nashville Show!" Then they
launch right into "How's Ev'ry Little Thing in Nashville!" I'll bet
that intro has never sounded this good before - what a chorus! Kim
Hulbert is standing second from the end on the third row --- that
gives you an idea of the caliber of these voices!!

Renee has us practice a Minnie Pearl "Howdy" a few times and give a
hand to the band. Then the chorus sings a beautiful modern ballad
I'm guessing is called "Sophisticated Lady." It always amazes me how
they can sing this music with such polish and finesse after only
rehearsing together THIS WEEK.

President Lee Davidson takes the mic to tell a story about 1952, when
all of the convention was in one hotel. There were 93 chapters....
and she goes on to tell a lot more of those times, which is going to
fast for me to get it all. It serves to introduce the short video
presentation about the Pitch Pipers, our 50th anniversary quartet.
Betty, Jan and Mary Ann Are with us tonight! Some of the current
Coronet pin corsages on them as they take bows and get a nice ovation
from the crowd.

Commercial for the Queen's Court - 25 different quartets have CD's or
tapes for sale... and she invited us to the Coronet Clubhouse, hosted
by Rumors.

Signature Sound:
"Fit as a Fiddle" - with the new tenor, Claire Domenick... what a
sound! (Oh, yeah, they are wearing their different black and white
gowns from the chorus.) Lloyd steps up with a "bumba-bum-bum" solo
and invites us to sing along. Janet gets a bit carried away with the
ringy dingy... they convince us that they are, indeed, ready for
love. Janet introduces Claire, who sang with her sisters on the Ted
Mack Amatuer Hour and was beaten by a monkey and the organ... Next
comes "If I Love Again," arranged by Joni Bescos, and featuring
Leslie's lovely lead voice. They wind up with their medley of Fare
Thee Well and I Used to Love You - WOW! I think they must have been
practicing or somethin' - just kidding!

4-Star Collection comes right out next. They are alike in zebra
print sequin jackets and slim black velvet skirts. "It's a Pity to
Say Goodnight" - I have love their sound ever since the first time I
heard them... one of the finest blends in history, IMHO. "Each Time
I Fall in Love" - this has the famous tag that we sing all the time
"Falling in love, over again... with you (foolish over you)" - and
they make it ring on every chord. Pat reads us a "bible" story about
Abraham and Dot Com, who has been called Amazon.com... I wish I
could type faster and tell you all of this, too - but you need to
come to convention and see the show... it's a play on computer stuff,
of course, featuring eBay and Yahoo and Bill Gates. "Fax Yourself to
Jesus on that cellular phone to glory!" What a cute song!
"Mega-bytes of mercy in nano-second time..." The thing is, they sing
just as well on this silly stuff as they do on contest material.

Weekend Edition - black velvet gowns with small rhinestone clips at
the neckline complement their gold crowns. Susan gifts us with a
beautiful solo on "Feels Like Home to Me." Donna announces that
they will retire after giving their swan song in Phoenix. I'm glad
we get one more year... Susan launches right into "The Raven." This
has to be seen to be believed. Nancy's fast eerie sheep is
hilarious, as usual. Donna gets carried away gently "rapping" until
Susan tells her it's not that kind of rapping. They'd like to sing
it nice and easy but they never do anything nice and easy, so they'll
do it nice and rough. I wish I could adequately describe this
rendition, but it's just not possible. So much is going on... you
need to see this before they retire!

Mike introduces Iris Cokecroft, Hurricane Honey, who introduces a
Showtime video before they appear for their swan song. Their
recording of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" serves as background for
the photo montage. The video started with Showtime singing a
commercial for a supermarket in Tampa. Then the live quartet starts
right into "Bust a Chord Tonight." (Wearing four different black
outfits....) They've been singing for us for about 18 years!
Debbie introduces the "Showtime Dads" who do "Lida Rose" with the
quartet's "Dream of Now." "How Can You Believe Me" leads into a
medley of pieces of Showtime songs (in 30 minutes or less), starting
off with "The Elements," then "Amazing Grace," "No One Loves You Any
Better," "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," some spiritual(s)?,
"The Auctioneer," "I Used to Call Him Baby," "Bye, Bye Blues,"
"Goody, Goody," "Cause I'm a Blonde," "Jenny Rebecca," "Clementine
(opera)," "Freddie Feelgood and His Funky Little Four-Piece Band,"
and "Barbershopper of Seville" with a new tag... it's time to say
goodbye! A standing ovation shows our appreciation for this fine,
funny quartet.

During the intermission, the Mark Barnett Band plays some familiar
tunes and I visit with some friends whom I haven't seen since last
year.

Renee asks for a moment of silence... "Thank you, God... my feet
don't hurt." The chorus begins "If They Could See Me Now" and winds
up with a kickline!

Rumors: Black velvet duster dresses over pants. Judy comes out in a
wheel chair... since last year, two of them got married (Peggy and
Charla) and one got pregnant (Charla) and one went sky-diving (Judy)
- Dale says we'll believe anything. Judy transfers to a stool in her
singing position and they sing "There's a Meetin' Here Tonight."
Screaming overtone on the tag! They start "Lady Down the Hall" to a
an ovation as people recognize the intro. This is such a beautiful
song (from "Rent," I believe) and Charla sings it so well. Peggy
tells us that Rumors was part of the faculty for the European
Education Symposium... Scotland was so beautiful (and Dale chimes in,
"They sure know how to party.") They show some photos of the trip as
they sing "Scotland the Brave."

a cappella Gold: black velvet wrap gowns with white satin lapels
"Grapefruit Diet" - I love this song and so does this audience. We
get to sing along on all of the banned foods. Kim laments that they
don't get to eat before they sing... so she hasn't eaten for at least
six hours and wants a cheeseburger. Bette tells her she has "three
points" left for today - a nice, crisp green salad and a teaspoon of
fat-free dressing. They finish the song with a flourish. Bette
tells us they are going to New Zealand. They brought 40 pairs of
shoes this week and none of them fit. Susan accidentally sewed
Bette's costume to her all in one. "Make Love to Me" is a slow,
rhythmic and sexy song and they sell the heck out of it. They're
holding at nine husbands. Last year they lost one and found him
again - not a nice thing. They have a new thing. We're dating.
(Susan should let her husband know.) They've come up with a little
list... "Bald-Headed Men." Big haired boys make very good friends
but they can't compare to bald-headed men... don't do Rogaine or
Minoxidil - all you get is pharmacy bills... gentlemen, let's talk
about this comb-over thing - it's not working. Think of it this way
- you're not losing hair, you're gaining face!

Mike introduces Kaye Jensen, who got 50-year pin today. It's cost
her forty thousand dollars and one husband. I can't keep up. The
sign on their rehearsal room said "The Coroners Club" - people are
just dying to get in.

The Coronet Club chorus sings the Coronet Waltz to welcome the 2002
champions, Fanatix. This song gets me every year... "the Coronets
are proud to be one year older .... for you."

Fanatix: Four different black outfits. I think all have some leather.
"Two Tickets to Georgia/Sentimental Gentleman" really rocks. They
sure can ring those chords! Of course, this quartet has nine golds
between them and only one is Darcy's! "I Love to Hear That Old
Barbershop Style." Darcy says this is an unusual year for the
Coronet Club - they only get one new one - her. They don't need
anyone who talks a lot - they already have a lot of those. When she
was little, her teeth were really small - wind erosion. After
thanking everyone for a wonderful year, they sing "Love Me and the
World is Mine."

Rumors and a cappella Gold come out and give them the "Coronet Club
sight reading test." Kim feels they should be humiliated publicly.
Dale has music for them. With the two quartets behind them, they
sing through "That's the Glory of Love" throwing pages as they
complete them - the others pick them up and put them back. Peggy
lifts Gerry's crown. Someone is putting tissues into Darcy's crown
(I can't see who it us). This 8-part version of the song sounds
pretty good for all the shenanigans that are happening. After they
kick some of the song pages around the stage, Dale says, "Okay,
Renee, it's all yours!"

A trumpeter begins the next number, and Kim sings lead with City
Lights on "Jelly Roll Morton" and the chorus joins in. Renee walks
behind the front row and just enjoys. A repeat of the "Nashville
Coronet Show" tag is the closer and the band takes over to play us
out of the hall. Another wonderful Coronet Club evening!

The photo link for this year is:

http://www.sweetadelines.net/files/nashvillesing


--
Marti Lovejoy for the SING Reporting Team
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SweetAdelinesScores/messages
Life Member, Reg 10, TX, USA (30 years so far)
LovejoyMar @ att.net <--remove spaces