Cross-Gender Performances
For the uninitiated, it can be difficult to understand why people love a cappella. Heck, even for those of us who do actively enjoy it, it can be difficult to put into words why we enjoy this art form so. While we’ll never have a truly comprehensive list of everything cool about a cappella, 200 Reasons to Love A Cappella is our best attempt at assembling a list of what makes it great.
Reason #47: Cross-Gender Performances
OK, so sometimes covering music by someone from the opposite sex doesn’t come across so well. You know, when girls sound strangely small--like they’re pubescent teens singing along to the radio. Or when the guy aims for satire of a female performer and ends up playing the role of the inadvertent misogynist.
But then there are times when dragging a song across the gender line makes it new, makes it all the more artful. When the twist of a woman’s voice makes a guy’s song all the more emotional, or an all-male group uses a traditionally female song to show its softer side. A cappella groups have all the potential in the world to reimagine songs in the form of innovative covers, whether it’s Rochester’s Midnight Ramblers laying it all out on Sarah McLachlan’s “When She Loved Me,” or Oregon’s Divisi bringing down the house with Usher’s “Yeah.”
I love it!