ICCA South Quarterfinal at Johns Hopkins University

Mike Chin checking in here after a memorable International

Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) quarterfinal at Johns Hopkins University. This was the first competition for the South region, and my first one for the year after a blizzard derailed my plans to journey to Rutgers last weekend.

This show took place at Shriver Hall on the Johns Hopkins University campus in strangely snowy Baltimore, MD.

Before we get to the review, a quick summary:

The Competitors:
The University of Maryland Baltimore County Mama’s Boys
Salisbury University Squawkappella
The Johns Hopkins University Octopodes
The Georgetown University Phantoms
Virginia Tech Juxtaposition
University of Maryland College Park PandemoniUM
University of Delaware Vocal Point

Host Group:
The Johns Hopkins University Octopodes

Guest Groups:
The Johns Hopkins University Mental Notes
The Johns Hopkins University All-Nighters
The Johns Hopkins University Vocal Chords

Shriver Hall is a large venue, and it turned out to be mostly full for the night.

The Hawaiin shirt-clad Mental Notes opened up the night with a fun rendition of “Kiss the Girl” from The Little Mermaid. The performance featured plenty of animated impersonation of sea animals, first in sound, then in dance moves. Silly, harmless fun.

ICCA Mid-Atlantic producer Dave Rabizadeh took the stage for the traditional announcements about cell phones and how the night would go. Most amusing was when he gave the audience the opportunity to rehearse their restrained enthusiasm, practicing clapping for a but a few brief moments as they should between songs in a performance set to save the clock.

The night’s first competing group was The University of Maryland Baltimore County Mama’s Boys. The all-male group came out all in black with gold ties, for a pretty sharp look. They opened with Sean Kingston’s “Replay.” Very nice choreography here. The solo was OK, but just seemed to lack gusto and charisma. The guys isolated their drummer by at least a full yard at all times which, for first-time readers, is one of my biggest visual pet peeves. The drummer’s the heartbeat of your group in all sorts of metaphorical and literal ways, which makes pushing this group member to the side all kinds of wrong. Most particularly, its visually distracting for the audience.

The soloist donned a black top hat for the second song. There are only two justifiable reasons for such a gesture--one is that you’re going to cover

Michael Jackson, and the other is that you’re going to fling that hat off in a moment of passion or extreme too-cool-for-school-ness. Sadly, neither of these was the case for “Over My Head” originally by Fastball. It’s an awkward song choice, mellow and kind of slow, but also tad bit bubbly, particularly the way the group sold it, bobbing and grooving along. It was another understated solo, plus we got some conducting on stage to round out an all around underwhelming piece of a cappella performance.

Last up was a medley of recent pop songs that started with The Black-Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling.” This is a fantastic idea for a closer--fun, current, up beat. But, again, the attitude just wasn’t there. The next sampling was “Down” by Jay Sean. Either of these first two numbers demanded the inclusion of the rap bit to justify its existence in this set, and it never arrived. Next was The Fray’s “Never Say Never” to be followed by Flo Rida’s “Right Round.” And, in this moment, the guys made it clear why they hadn’t rapped before. To be fair, they kept up with the rap, speed-wise, better than you might have expected, but they just didn’t have the power or spunk necessary to pull it off.

All in all, The Mama’s Boys put forth a solid effort, and were likeable on stage. Unfortunately, their material just wasn’t right for this kind of competition setting. Hopefully this will be a learning experience for the guys, and they’ll come out the better for it.

The second group out of the chute was Salisbury University Squawkappella. The mixed group came out in purple tops for a sort of formal, sort of off beat look that I liked a like a great deal. One of the guys came out with an oversized radio dial hanging over his chest. Another member tuned it to o establish a bit of a radio theme. The group opened with Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA”--oddly enough with a male soloist. The guy was OK, but I just couldn’t fathom why a mixed group wouldn’t hand this solo to one of the women. And then it became clear why that choice was made. The girls took over on the first chorus. The girls were radically out of tune, without any semblance of blend. Just one of those girls took the solo from there. Not bad, but too nasal for my tastes. There was some fun movement throughout, but it was just enough to solidify the piece as nothing more than cute. Samplings of Christina Aguilera’s “Dirty” and Hanson’s “Mmm Bop” (twice over) did not help matters.

The radio theme carried on with a brief sample of “Bad Romance” before they changed the station to settle into their “down home roots”

with “Seven Bridges Road.” They started slowly, singing chorally, before they sped it up. Another fun one, this one with a bit more redeeming value musically, and it was a bit more credible song choice, which helped, though I think the group sold itself short by playing for laughs too often.

Last up was David Guetta’s “Love Takes Over.” Decent perc, nice solo work, a tad dull visually.

Amidst their radio inserts, Squawkappella disclosed it was the group’s first time at the ICCAs. Like The Mama’s Boys, I found them very likeable, and imagine their campus shows are a lot of fun. Hopefully they’ll be able to internalize what they saw at this competition, and, should they choose to continue pursuing this line of performance, mature from the experience.

The home team was up third--The Johns Hopkins University Octopodes. Plenty of supporters in the house for the mixed group, including a row fans in the middle of the crowd, each with an individual cardboard letter to raise over head and spell out O-C-T-O-P-O-D-E-S. From a purely visual perspective, the group looked better than I’ve ever seen them look before. The guys maintained the traditional black ties and bottoms with dark blue shirts. The ladies, rather than wearing a mismatch of blue dresses and tops, this time donned matching black dresses. While I would contend the dresses were a bit short for a family-friendly show, it definitely helped in lending the group a more professional, unified and even sexy overall appearance.

The group opened with Paramore’s “Misery Business.” This marked a turning point in the evening. Within in a minute or so, you can really tell the difference

between groups that have competed before and those who have not; those who have done their homework and those who just sort of threw things together. The Octopodes came to play. The soloist was assertive and charismatic. She was a little screechy at points, but not afraid to belt. Simply fantastic perc for this opener and throughout the set. The arrangement and choreography weren’t anything to write home about, but the group sold them really well, and that’s more than half the battle when it comes to engaging an audience. Solid opener.

Next up was Gavin DeGraw’s “Chariot.” This one was just strange. I’m fine with a group challenging the convention of the fast-slow-fast, or upbeat-ballad-upbeat set structure, as long as they have something better planned. There were a couple problems here. First, I’m not convinced this was the right song, or structural choice at all—I’ve seen the song in competition sets a few times, I think it works best sold as a rousing, almost spiritual number to open the set, or to really break things down as your closer. The group made the odd choice to slow the tempo way down, and the soloist just seemed a bit off his game for a performance that was just underwhelming and really cut short the group’s momentum.

Last up was “Bust Your Windows” originally by Jazmine Sullivan. The solo was sort of strange here—tonally right on, but whether it was a mic-ing effect, the soloist having a sore throat, or an actual enunciation problem, it was borderline impossible to make out the lyrics for half this number. The true highlight of this song was the visual presentation. Co-ed groups have the unique ability to be able to pull off inter-gender theatrics that a single gender group just can’t pull off. I’m not talking about the musical theatre antics The SoCals went with on The Sing-Off, but rather, what we got here, whether it was starting with one male and one female huddled mass behind the soloist, or, later on, the soloist rebuking a male member, and a series of choreographed moves in the background to continue to portray a scorned woman taking it out on her former lover. Musically OK, visually excellent end to the set.

The fourth group was PandemoniUM out of The University of Maryland College Park. The mixed group entered in red and black, for another good look. They opened with “Iris” originally by The Goo Goo Dolls. Sort of a unique solo on this one—not the vocal I expected for this song, much sweeter and smoother. It was a very good, and a bit of a sleeper choice for best solo. Very simple movement in the background, which was appropriate for the song. The instrumental break felt a little long. They probably should have trimmed it or sampled something.

Next was India.Arie’s “Therapy.” Nice vocal, strong solo. The choreography wasn’t off the charts, but yielded particular moments that were really well-

conceived, including one in which the group members crept up on the soloist, then crouched behind her, allowing one of the guys in the back to stand tall and cry “I love you.” This is a perfect demonstration of how a group does not need to go crazy choreographing every lyric--it’s so much more effective to pick your spots and make your movement purposeful and profound.

At first listen, I thought PandemoniUM was closing on Coldplay’s “Clocks” and began to question their judgment. “Clocks” has been dead to me as an a cappella choice for at least the last four years, and it’s my honest feeling that no group should bring it to competition again until at least 2015, at which point it will be up for review as a retro-song. Anyway, this wasn’t nearly as bad as I had feared as it turned out to be a mash-up of “Clocks” and Sufjan Stevens’s “Chicago.” It was an interesting idea, but I didn’t find the performance particularly inspired until the last verse. That’s when the real mashing happened as the soloists for the respective songs sang at the same time, harmonizing really nicely for, quite arguably, the most luminous moment of the night.

Following intermission, The Phantoms out of Georgetown University took the stage. The mixed group was all in purple in black, for yet another good look. The group opened with Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.” Before I get into the breakdown of this performance allow me to pontificate for a moment about this show’s crowd. It was a large crowd, and it was full of supporters for various groups—most prominently, The Octopodes, Mama’s Boys and PandemoniUM. The fans who came to support individual groups were particularly animated throughout the show, offering up standing ovations and catcalls. The Phantoms didn’t seem to have this sort of fan base in attendance—getting a polite but unspectacular welcome from the audience.

“Bad Romance,” on paper, was not great. The energy was uneven, the verses were a bit boring. And yet, The Phantoms did so much right to take what should have been middle of the road, and transform it into something sublime. The song choice was current, popular and ripe for interpretation. The group started with a slow, soft arrangement, the soloist up front, singing with emotion. Musically, this was really different from Lady Gaga’s tune, but the lyrics were enough of a cue that the college crowd knew what was coming. The crowd was practically on the edge of its seating, waiting for the trademark “Rah-rah-ah-ah-ah, Roma-Roma-ma,” etc., and the group used that moment for a monster crescendo and big tempo shift to make this crowd explode. This is a textbook example of how to win over a crowd and entertain. This probably could have been all the better if the group got a bit more creative with the verses, but nonetheless, it marked the group’s arrival with a sensational opener.

Next was Daniel Merriweather’s “Water and a Flame.” Very, very nice male solo to open, later joined by a strong female soloist.

There were points when the group split by gender, and it was interesting to see the guys sell the movement more fully than their female counterparts--often times it’s the other way around in a mixed group. Very good percussion here as well.

The group members formed sort of a still life, striking various poses behind the soloist. And what a solo this young woman had in store. The group was silent as she turned in her best American Idol audition with “Summertime.” It was jazzy, had a few riffs, and was always packed with power to truly stun the audience. The group joined in before long, making the interesting choice to sample “Time of the Season” in the background, featuring a very nice bass sound. This was a bit of a gamble stylistically, but was more than enough to solidify The Phantoms’ place as the best group of te night to that point, earning every bit of the standing ovation that many in attendance gave them as they left the stage.

Next up was all-male Virginia Tech Juxtaposition. The guys wore gray and orange argyle sweaters and jeans for a look that really stood out for the night. It was only at this moment that I recognized just how many co-ed groups we had seen that night--Juxtaposition was only the second all-male competing act, and the first since the night’s openers. The group opened with Owl City’s “Fireflies.” Good, but understated solo. It was fun and current, with some nice harmonies, but a bit too breezy. As an all-male squad, I was hoping for some raw fire power when they took the stage, and this was just kind of there.

Juxtaposition followed up with Matt Wertz’s “I Will Not Take My Love Away.” This is a good song for serenading your sweethearts at a campus show

(particularly in that Valentine’s Day spirit. But for the competition setting, it represented all the same issues as “Fireflies.” It was pretty, and it was charming, but it just lacked volume and personality. Not every guys groups needs to do offer up Beelzebubs-style power play, but it is good to capitalize on what makes you different. There’s nothing these guys did to this point that couldn’t have been accomplished just as easily by one of the mixed groups.

Last up was Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Let’s Groove.” I had high hopes as the group members started with their backs to the crowd, and executed a pretty smooth crossover and spin move. The choreography was pretty entertaining from that point forward, which is something I felt this group needed to stay competitive at that point. Nonetheless, the vocals were muted again. Good, but not enough to lift the guys back into contention for the night.

University of Delaware Vocal Point was the last competing group. It was another co-ed squad. The guys wore light blue shirts, yellow ties, and black bottoms. The girls were in dresses of a darker shade of blue, yellow belts and black leggings. I like the idea here, but think it would have functioned much better had they matched their blues.

Vocal Point opened with Matchbox 20’s “3 a.m..” I have a soft spot for this song because I sang it a talent show of sorts my senior year of high school. That’s mostly irrelevant, save for the fact that I was a senior in high school quite some time ago, and even then, it wasn’t a brand new song. I have nothing against using older songs, but if you make the choice to do so in competition, I think you need to do something to make that song relevant at that moment. While this was a good performance (the solo, in particular, was really strong) it wasn’t particularly memorable and seemed like a performance that could have happened any time in the last decade. To their credit, the performers did show enough energy and enthusiasm to salvage the song choice.

Next up was “Save the Hero” originally by Beyonce. Good emotional solo, and decent sound from the group but this is an example of the visual presentation taking away from the music. I appreciate it when groups take the time to choreograph, but what you’re doing visually should always support and complement what’s happening musically. It should not become interpretive dance. To illustrate this point, there came a time when the soloist sang, “I’m left with no shoulder” and the group members closed in, all putting hands on her shoulders; then there was her pleading for “a simple word, a gesture,” at which point one of the girls stepped out to sign “I love you.” Had this been a stand alone moment, I might have been on board, but when they choreographed every piece of this ballad so completely, that just came off as the final straw of overkill to make this song a parody of itself.

Last up was The Wreckers’ “Lay Me Down.” Nice solo and nice harmonies. I’m not sure if they toned down the choreo, or if I was just desensitized by this point, but it seemed less intrusive here, allowing the music to speak for itself. The sound was very good for a strong closer.

As the judges headed off to deliberate, Hopkins had three of its finest a cappella groups lined up to entertain the crowd.

As it turned out, they only needed two. The All-Nighters, all-male group in business attire, started, with a set including Matt Nathanson’s “Come On Get Higher” and The Killers’ “Human.” The Vocal Chords, a mixed troupe, had the stage next for songs including Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” and “Kiss from a Rose” by Seal. Good stuff all around.

The Mental Notes didn’t have a chance to take the stage again as the judges returned with our results.

You can see below for my full list of placement thoughts and special awards picks. The one piece I’ll comment on here is that I thought The Phantoms had established themselves the top group by a fair margin, and I thought, after that, PandemoniUM, The Octopodes and Vocal Point were pretty tightly clustered for runner-up honors.

A full-list of official results is available below, but I just have to say that the one true shocker for me was that The Phantoms did not win. Fortunately, there were the first runners up, and so they will get to progress to the semifinals, but I was really surprised not to see them get the duke, and their moment for an encore.

I was more disappointed, though, to see the number of spectators who walked out before PandemoniUM’s encore, despite Rabizadeh’s very clear notice

that an encore from the champions would follow. Agree with the decision or not, and whether or not you came to support the group that won, it’s common courtesy to sit tight, and give them their due for winning. I would estimate that well over a third of the crowd cleared out prior to or even during PandemoniUM’s performance. I will concede it was a little awkward that they performed Gavin DeGraw’s “Chariot” (way to not only defeat the home group, but then show them up on one of their competition songs). Anyway, they were solid, and the performance featured a fun bit when they got a call and response going with the crowd toward the end. It was a fine cap to the evening.

ACB Picks for the Night:

Overall Placement:
1. The Phantoms
2. PandemoniUM
3. The Octopodes
4. Vocal Point

Best Soloist
1. The Phantoms for “Summertime”
2. PandemoniUM for “Iris”
3. The Octopodes for “Misery Business”

Best Vocal Percussion
1. The Octopodes for the full set
2. The Phantoms for “Water and a Flame”

Best Arrangement:The Phantoms for “Bad Romance”

Best Choreography:
1. The Octopodes for “Bust Your Windows
2. Juxtaposition for “Let’s Groove”
3. The Mama’s Boys for “Replay”

ICCA Official Results:

Overall Placement:
1. PandemoniUM
2. The Phantoms
3. The Octopodes

Outstanding Soloist: The Phantoms for “Summertime”

Outstanding Arrangement: PandemoniUM for the “Clocks” and “Chicago” mash-up

Outstanding Choreography: The Octopodes for the full set