See I personally would have thought it was much funnier if he had said something like:
"Jen Oundjian is phenomenal. Calling her work "stiff" is like calling Hillary Clinton, "honest"... it never was or will be true."
But I won't begrudge a political joke as long as we conservatives can have equal time.
That just made my day... and I totally agree with it. Good one, Mr. Temple. It's for conservatives, moderates, and liberals!
But watch it... GAsax might jump down your throat. Show Choir only pertains to Show Choir... it has NOTHING to do with anything else going on in the world.
Who are you? I'm praying that you really aren't from Wheaton Warrenville South High School... because all of the people I have met from there are wonderful and I have done nothing but support your amazing show choir. It would be rather unfortunate if you were. Because #1- they aren't allowed to post and #2- you don't represent them very well.
Me too..everyone else just felt the need to attack me for saying I didn't appreciate his comment on a show choir board. So don't tell me this...tell them. All he had to do was say he was sorry and it would have been done.
That is the thing... I am not sorry and refuse to take back my comment. But, I won't prolong the matter any longer... moving on. Just wanted to make sure you knew that I wouldn't be "forced" into saying "I'm Sorry".
Sound Sensations may be the 2nd best girls group in the universe. Mundelein Lights is the best.
Center Grove girls are AMAZING! They beat Mundelein Lights at Fame Orlando...but I will agree Mundelein Lights are very good, I saw them last year at Nashville and I believe they won!
so i have a very close friend of mine who is currently working in new york. he does set design for a couple different shows there as well as working as a vocal instructor. anyway, i sent him the DVD of FAME and i had about a 4 hour conversation with him last night... this is a brief recap of what he had to say...
Clinton - it is clear that they take great pride in their program. from the time the rise of the curtain you can tell that these kids are mature beyond their years and have a great sense of what it means to be a top notch show choir. their set is nice - but lacks consistency (remember, he does theater, so he loves a common thread) but what they have, they work VERY well with!
South Jones - (and this is just me saying this - i dont think there has been enough said about this group -- they did quite well on SEVERAL levels) Just a really nice show - you can see who they aspire to be -- (after asking him what he meant, he said they looked like a "mini clinton")
North Central - love the opener - WOW, these kids really know how to sing and sing well.. the rest of the show just kind of got strange to me - I am a full believer in bringing things "into the times" - but the second number was just to weird for me -- (he made a great point - how do you approach a high school student and say "for this number, you are going to wear a silver body suit with your face covered and dance around on a box") it was just a little to provocative... over all, after that second number, the show was decent....
Burroughs - (once again - he is a show designer... so naturally, he loved it) i have never seen anything the flowed the way it did. you can tell that the director, choreographer and seamstress spent a lot of time together and have a GREAT working relationship. Blown away by the ballad - what an amazing sound! from high school kids --- WOW! the choreograper is amazing in knowing not to overload the kids with crazy dance. i would much rater them do nice clean, simple moves and sing their faces off, then go over the top and not do it well. i just cant say anything more about them! if they didnt win, i would be surprised (i let him see the groups before i told him the outcome)
Waubonsie Valley - the most captivating opening i have ever seen - it sucked me in from the very begining note. i am AMAZED that these kids can dance and sing so well. very different from the last group - i wonder if they could have danced a number like that and still had the amazing vocals that this group has? the second number was so cute - havent seen anything like that in any of the other groups and it was refreshing. the ballad - WOW! these are high school kids, thats just amazing! the rest of the show was well done, but just kind of seemed to lose steam (i told him that seemed to be the general thought of WV show)
overall - all of the groups were quite impressive - but was blown way by the kids from California. they are not even on the same level as the rest of the groups!
this is just a little feedback from somone who works a great deal "in the industry" and although that is not show choir, he knows what to look for and has a very good eye and ear...
Actually, the powers that be were hoping that all parties involved would come to a mature resolution without the need for intervention.
Me too..everyone else just felt the need to attack me for saying I didn't appreciate his comment on a show choir board. So don't tell me this...tell them. All he had to do was say he was sorry and it would have been done.
I'm not even going to touch this one...because it's become clear to me the powers that be on this board think it's okay to bash politicians on the main boards.
Actually, the powers that be were hoping that all parties involved would come to a mature resolution without the need for intervention. I did not edit nor remove anyone's post - on either side of the issue - so I would appreciate you not infer that I have one to take.
I appreciate the tact of the majority of users in this thread who have managed to keep things on topic as much as possible.
I think we should refrain from calling things stupid or unintelligent in general. It has nothing to do with politics; if I called a show choir stupid, would that slide here? If I called a state stupid, would people comment that I had no idea what I was talking about?
So, peace, love and harmony to all! All politics aside ;)
"Jen Oundjian is phenomenal. Calling her work "stiff" is like calling George Bush, "inteligent"... it never was or will be true."
Haha... That's just too funny... George bush deserves to be used as an example of stupidity for ages to come in nearly every facet of life... Truly the ultimate embarrasment... it's hardly political. At some point presidential politics end up making it's way into pop culture as a reference. So take it easy GAsax
I'm not even going to touch this one...because it's become clear to me the powers that be on this board think it's okay to bash politicians on the main boards. So if I throw out so political statement in the near future on these boards basing liberals I expect not one of you people to say a thing about it. You have already acknowledged this kind of talk to 100% okay when talking about show choir.
only I believe both to be true...please keep political comments on the general discussion board.
Haha... That's just too funny... George bush deserves to be used as an example of stupidity for ages to come in nearly every facet of life... Truly the ultimate embarrasment... it's hardly political. At some point presidential politics end up making it's way into pop culture as a reference. So take it easy GAsax lol.
AND - I'd have to say that i know what you're saying when you say their choreography looks stiff, but the choreography Jen does is absolutely incredible. I wouldn't say it's hugely difficult or anything, but Definately the most effective i've seen. I really love her choreographing...
Anyway,
I'm done in this topic, it's been a while now and there's no reason to keep on readin'
Congratulations to everyone who participated in making this fame event an incredible success, and the most talked about competition ever!
I love burroughs, I love clinton, I love NC, I love WV, i haven't seen Burroughs Girls, but i'm sure i love them too lol... what an incredible thing to miss! Ugh! the kick in the pants is that i didn't get to go because of school, but bc of my grandpa passing, I'm actually in indianapolis again right now like a week later... So... i had to come back to indianapolis AND i don't get to go to an amazing competition, or enjoy the summerish "non calgary" weather. bleh And no grandpa...
Ana..
Put in your approval to come to San Diego 2009 now!
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Right after you put yours in for Minnesota 2009!!! You know you want to!
Actually, I am tentatively planning on making a trip out to Cali next year for SoCal... I just don't think I'll be bringing 80 high schoolers with me lol.
I was thinking earlier today. We have been pretty fortunate at Totino-Grace in that we typically do national competitions every other year, and every one we've gone to since 2001 has been really competitive, with some amazing groups at each one. Our students and staff have really gotten to be exposed to many of the best choirs in the nation. BUT obviously, not all national competitions can pull in a ton of high quality groups each season simply due to the sheer number of options available, as well as financial and calendar-related restrictions for schools. We've talked on here many times about how thinly stretched groups become across the board at these competitions because of those reasons. It seems it will only get worse- currently, for 2009, there is 1 Show Choir Nationals event, 2 Showstoppers competitions, and I think 9 FAME competitions scheduled. While this offers many exciting travel opportunities, it also means choirs wishing to compete nationally/ internationally, will be divided between more than 10 competitions.
I feel like FAME Chicago kind of magically came together this year, and I wonder if there's any way to ensure or at least encourage this sort of thing to happen on a more regular basis. Personally, I got more of an education at FAME Chicago than I have in a couple years, and it was thrilling- and has really renewed my passion for show choir, and made me re-evaluate many of my conceptions of what show choir can and should be. Obviously, I cannot speak for anyone else's experience, but from talking to the people I was with that day, I think it was a really positive day for many of us.
I know at T-G, we go through a long process when we plan our schedule, and submit it for approval by the administration. Because of the hoops we have to go through, we start planning pretty early. I don't know if it is realistic to hope that choirs can communicate with each other to "meet" at some of these competitions during the planning process, but wouldn't it be amazing if competitions of this caliber were happening every year, not once in a great while? I just think it'd be exciting for the entire show choir community if we could keep bringing the best of the best together- not just for competition's sake, but so that we can continually expose our programs to the wonderful things happening across the country, and LEARN from these experiences.
FAME Chicago 2008
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