the inexpressible

Now, I'm not usually the let-me-tell-you-all-about-the-cool-things-I-did-today kind of blogger. It's not that I have a problem with this style of blogging. There's nothing wrong with it, but it just doesn't suit me. Digging deep, I realize that's because I rarely (if ever) actually do interesting, blog worthy things. But, that's not the point. The point is that today I'm making an exception.

Because I did something spectacular.

First, a few fun facts. The World Choir Games (formerly the Choir Olympics) began in 2000 and has the honor of being the largest choir competition in the world. According to Wikipedia, (a highly reputable source, in my opinion. Don't try and tell me otherwise. It won't end well.) the purpose of the games is to unify nations through music. The emphasis is on participation, not competition. I could go on a whole music is love lecture right now to show my full fledged support for this idea, but I'll refrain and leave it at this: I dig the idea. It's a good'un. Anyhow, the WCG (no idea if it's actually acroynmed, but being a BYU student, I am quite the fan of a good acronym. And yes, I turned acronym into a verb. Go with it.) has never been hosted by the US of A. Until now. Want to guess where?

CINCINNATI!

(All you Northern Kentuckians/Cincinnatians better have shouted that in your head the same way that they do on Q102. If you didn't, please go back and do so.)

So, since you are all so smart, I'm sure you've put two and two together to come to the conclusion that I got to go to part of the World Choir Games. You may all go put a gold star on your sticker chart! I wasn't sure exactly what to expect from the concert I attended with my dad. But, in retrospect, I realize that anything I would have imagined would have been a gross underestimate of the sheer magnitude of awesome that I experienced tonight. Even if I did trip (please be kind and pretend to be surprised) and break my shoe on the walk from the car to the Aranoff.

They're, uh, actually my Mom's shoes....sorry Mom! 

Human Nature

Though the WCG is a competition, not every concert is judged. Some are just for fun, which is what music is for, if you ask me. So, tonight, I attended a Celebration Concert. No scores. No judges. Just two and a half hours of good music. The theme was Pop the Night Away, so all of the music was fairly recognizable and good for audience participation. The concert kicked off with a four man group from Australia called Human Nature. They were talented, charming, and completely entertaining. They have a show in Las Vegas, so if you're ever in Sin City and need somebody good to go see, Human Nature get's my endorsement. Next was a choir from China. They sang a few songs in Chinese and then segued into American pop numbers. They were very talented as well, but I felt that they were just a tiny bit stiff and formulaic. Regardless, they were still entertaining--very active, upbeat, and show choir-esque. After the Chinese was a group from the Netherlands.

Pi Group (China) 

The Dutch know how to sing, that's for sure. They were entertaining, versatile, very well trained, and they had this crazy director who couldn't sit still for more than a millisecond (even when playing the piano) and made the funniest facial expressions when he was into the music. Which was all the time. Right before the intermission, there was a quick cameo by the Cincy team from the Clash of the Choirs. The winning team, I might add. The emcees introduced Team Cincinnati by alluding to a famous Cincinnatian who  went on to be a rather famous singer and had a brief stint as the husband of Jessica Simpson.

Dekoor Close Harmony (Netherlands)

This was relevant, as Nick Lachey coached Team Cincinnati during the Clash of the Choirs, but before that was made obvious, it sounded as though they were introducing Nick himself. I thought the poor girl next to me was going to pass out from excitement.
She was rather disappointed when Nick didn't grace us with his presence.  The concert ended with a performance by the vocal jazz group from Western Michigan University. They were talented, but I didn't much care for the arrangements that the director selected. 

Now, after that very long and most likely very boring summary, let me tell you that I loved everything about this experience, from the variety of music I got to hear to the old lady in front of us who insisted on clapping off-beat to every single song to the mini dance lesson Human Nature gave us as they sang "Stop in the Name of Love." Really now...how many people can say that they have heard a group of four white Aussies sing Motown AND a Chinese choir perform Waka Waka, Born this Way, and Dancing Queen AND a Dutch group sing We Are Young, all in the space of a few hours? I can!

I wish that I could accurately describe how spectacular this experience was. I know I did it no justice. But, the thing is, music can't be put into words, nor can the way it makes you feel. Music is meant to be heard and felt. It's far too abstract and fluid to be immobilized in groupings of letters and punctuation. Words can't explain the emotion, the power, or even the sheer entertainment that music has the ability to bring into a room. I believe that words have power. But so does music and, in this case, music trumps words.

Nothing can beat a live performance, but here are some videos I found that will hopefully key you in a little bit more to how amazing this night of music was!

This is Dekoor Close Harmony singing Zombies. It was my favorite of theirs and possibly of the whole night. This performance isn't nearly as good as it was tonight, but it'll give on a general idea. And skip to 1:30, unless you feel the urge to listen to a bunch of Dutch, clapping, and audience laughter.

Human Nature--My Girl

Human Nature--Ain't No Mountain

Oh, and a special thanks to Aldous Huxley for the inspiration for the title--"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music."