It was my very great pleasure to present about $2300 (all pledges are
not in yet) to the Young Singers Foundation at the reception tonight.
We can sponsor two scholarships! Enjoyed chatting, especially with
Chris Peurifoy (IbaBass) and listening to SparX - what a sound! They
warmed up my ears for the great chords to come!

Now we are at the Arena, which is, believe it or not, an intimate
setting compared to some of the places we have held this convention! As
for the reporter's table, the chair is too low, especially for one
typing with the carpal tunnel brace on), but otherwise, this setup is
the best we've had yet for watching this show and typing as we watch.
Kathy Hayes stopped by and said we may be a bit further away from center
stage once the whole judging pit is in place, but we are going to have a
nice view. Jane is going to have her photos up tonight, too. Her site is:

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

The people of Phoenix are happy to see us, very friendly, go out of
their way to help.... BUT... they don't seem to understand air
conditioning the way we do in Houston. It's tolerable, but by no means
cool. Enough whining... let's get on with the show!

A neat feature this year will be the "Young Women in Harmony Festival
Chorus." The festival was held TODAY - taught by Lorraine Barrows and
Beth Bruce. I've heard there are between 200 and 250 girls in the
chorus, from all over! As they walk smartly onstage, it looks like
about 300! WOW, what a chorus! Jeannie Froelich introduced the other
emcees - Janie Macchiaroli and Inger Bergqvist. They say "good evening"
to Sweden, Germany, Finland, Denmark, The Netherlands, Israel, Greece,
Cameroon, Japan, Hawaii in the native languages (I missed one.) Janie
informs us that the 230 girls in the YWIH chorus came with their mothers
and grandmothers, from all over, having learned the music at home. They
have learned the choreography today and practiced all day. They open
with "Orange Colored Sky" - as Janie says, wish we all had the brain
cells to learn choreo that quickly and do it so well! US, Canada, New
Zealand, Germany, and Thailand are represented on the stage. "Candle on
the Water" is the second number. It is so exciting and inspiring to
hear all of these young voices singing four-part harmony so well.
Lorraine says they hope today will serve as a beginning of a lifetime of
song for these girls - and hopefully it will include barbershop harmony.
"Fun in Just One Lifetime" - they do a wonderful job on the eight part
arrangement!! You can tell they are having a blast, too. I'll bet
there are some future Sweet Adelines up there, for sure!! I guess the
most amazing thing to me is that it is so obvious that they really have
LEARNED this music - Beth says they came prepared and she isn't
exaggerating!! After a standing ovation, they give us an encore, so
they learned about being "hams" as well - a necessary requirement of
being a Sweet Adeline!! If you didn't already know about this event, I
hope you will find out more and support it - what a wonderful idea!

While the chorus is leaving, a piano is brought on stage. The next
performer is Rachael Gates, a YSF scholarship winner from (I didn't hear
the year, but she was one of our first scholarship winners when the
foundation began) who now holds three degrees in music and has performed
in Italy and Russia. Her first selection is a Puccini aria which means
"Oh, My Daddy Dearest" - I won't attempt to write the Italian words.
She has a beautiful, rich, classical-type voice and knows how to tell
the story - whatever the language. Her second piece is in Latin, from
an oratorio by Mozart, which translates "Praise the Lord, All Ye
Nations." I don't know from this kind of music, not having heard an
opera since I was in high school, but she surely makes it seem
effortless. "If I Loved You" - this is more what I am used to and she
could easily do Broadway with these pipes!

In 1986, Inger came to California - got to know a neat quartet called
the Bachelor Party, known for throwing confetti - the name was because
they were all single. This quartet kept changing parts getting married
and evolving and in 1990, they started climbing the SPEBSQSA
international rankings, taking home the gold in 1996: Nightlife - Rob
Menaker, John Sasine, Jeff Baker, Brett Littlefield. "Come Fly with Me"
- a swingy, jazzy feel to this fun song! It flows into "Fly Me to the
Moon." They each milk the audience for applause on their solo or
feature spots - what showmen! "Young and Foolish" is like buttah!
Normally, Jeff sings that song (that he wrote)... John corrects him on
his facts - surprise. But Jeff did write that first one! No, John
says, that's a Frank Sinatra hit... My mistake, says Jeff. he welcomes
us to the Far Western District... Phoenix is known as the valley of the
sun - he thinks its more like the surface of the sun. Now they'd like
to feature the voice that is perhaps the finest baritone voice that this
quartet has ever had.... "Blues in the Night?" - Jeff actually started
the melody, but they all take a turn. This one really suits John's
voice, but Jeff chimes in with a "Satchmo" type of phrase, too. They
seem to make more music than is possible with only four voices. Jeff
takes all the bows. He wrote that one, too. John corrects him again..
and has a theory... could it be that Jeff is making the mistake because
when John makes the copies, he always writes Jeff's name at the top of
his music?? This old bit is always a hit with the audience. John
whispers to Jeff to make the announcement... he says they'll be selling
seedless grapes at intermission and after the show. No, no, - CD's and
TAPES! It must be the elevation here in Phoenix - the air is so thin.
Jeff says Charlie Chan wrote the next song, about Dixie... oh, it's
Chaplin Chan (his mistake). "Cross that Mason-Dixon Line?" - pardon me
while I just listen and enjoy! A standing "O" is their reward!

Jeannie informs the audience of the passing of Rob Henry and she offers
condolences on behalf of the Foundation. She then gives a little
history of the Scottsdale Chorus - which has never placed lower than
third in international competition. They are wearing black divided
skirt over pants and blue sparkly tops. "Let Yourself Go" - I guess
that's the title... Lori just starts them and they take it! The emcees
have been in Arizona for 30 years so hell doesn't bother them at all.
They've lost some really good friends when they burst into flames.
When Phoenix was pitched as a convention city.... they had to wonder:
"Don't they get the weather channel in Tulsa?" "Two Tickets to
Georgia/Sentimental Gentleman From Georgia" - again Lori disappears and
the chorus just performs! I love this style! She pops out to milk a
chord once in a while and to finish! They have such energy - it's
always a pleasure to see and hear this chorus. Six tons of crushed rock
is a lawn, turn on the AC in the winter so you can have a fire in the
fireplace, buy salsa by the gallon, but it's a "dry heat" - that's
Arizona! "Say It Isn't So" - a new ballad for me and they know how to
sell it. The emcees share some of their early "adjustments" to Phoenix
weather, like falling asleep by the pool and getting third degree burns,
forgetting to crack a window in the car and the windshield explodes.
"Big Time" - this song is a mini-Broadway show in one song! Their new
AC gets the house all the way down to 92... "Can I Just Have One More
Dance With You, My Love?" - this one is sexy, sultry and delightful!
The front row gang are all good dancers - and make it look easy and
natural. Monsoons and flash floods - finally humid, but the car floated
to Mexico. "I Love a Piano" - the whole chorus is always involved in
the choreo, too - and this number is no exception. Now there are six
tap floors and six dancers .. I recognize one as a member of that
quartet on which the lights went out in London in 1977 -- can't remember
their name! (Sun Lasses!) Isn't is grand what we can do in this "hobby?"
The audience is ready for the brief intermission after this exciting
performance!

Next year will feature The Dallas Brass, Swinglish Mix and Four Voices
(2002 SPEBSQSA Champs).

The Knudsen Brothers - there are five of them and they are brothers and
have the same Mom and Dad. Started in barbershop and now have shared
the stage with such stars are Barbara Mandrell and Rod Stewart! Two
brothers come out first to start the "accompaniment" and the third sings
"I Can See Clearly Now, the Rain is Gone" and then the other two come
out and add the vocal percussion. Each has his own mic. They are all
dressed in black - lots of leather - or is that black sequin fabric? -
but all different. You'd swear there was an orchestra up there! These
guys can really sing - and harmonize - and dance - and sell! And
they're pretty easy on the eyes, as well. I think I'm going to just
enjoy this and let you wish you'd come to see and hear it yourself!!
"Twist and Shout." "Pretty Woman." The antics of the "pips" on this
one are hilarious! It also features a "drum solo" - I didn't know vocal
percussion could be like this - again, I don't know from this music but
I like it! They get asked a lot of questions all over the world. Some
of them they don't understand! Are you all married? No, we just sing
together. They add the bass to the "rhythm section." The other three
are "lead and backup vocals" - Curtis is the youngest (I didn't get the
rest of the names, I am sorry). He jumps off the stage to flirt as they
finish up this rousing number. Then the vocal percussionist sings lead
on "I Believe I Can Fly." Their Dad started them singing when he
noticed they could sing in tune. From their early days, a Four Freshmen
number - "It's a Blue World." John Sasine was their coach when they
were a barbershop quartet. They wondered what it would be like to mix
barbershop and rock and roll. Barber-rock. Strong beat, but they keep
stopping to chord-worship.... "in Dixieland!" Elvis is in the house -
but his hair has left the building. He has sideburns on his sunglasses!
"Blue Suede Shoes" Kevin: I think I move better than Elvis - Curtis:
yeah, but that's 'cause he's dead. "Hound Dog" Elvis is in the
audience now - "Heartbreak Hotel" "Don't Be Cruel" "Jailhouse Rock."
Jack, the bass singer wants a solo - he didn't take his medication...
"Only You." They will donate $5 from each package of three CD's and a
video that is purchased tonight to YSF. They wrap with one fine a
cappella rendition of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." There was so
much more to their show than I was able to describe - really, you have
to come to a convention at least ONCE and make sure this show is the
start of it for you! For an encore, they mention that the standard of
listeners in this audience is a little higher than normal and they were
a little nervous. "Amazing Grace" feels like it's performed by a full
orchestra. Truly amazing.

--
Marti Lovejoy
Proud "Owner" of SING: sponsor of 2 YSF Scholarships in 2003
Score Collector for SING (and the site below)
Life Member, Reg 10, TX, USA - 31 years so far
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SweetAdelinesScores/messages
LovejoyMar @ att.net <--remove spaces