After nearly a week of reflection, contemplation, and relaxation…of my voice that is, I’d like to share a few of my favorite moments from last weekend’s Sweeps/Showcase experience:
● On the road to D.C., Mike, Steve, and I had to stop 20 minutes after our first bathroom break because we were all chugging water the entire ride.
● My phone, which has turn-by-turn navigation, lost power right before we had to exit the George Washington expressway, mere miles away from the Birchmere. Of course, we had no clue how to get there, so we drove around Arlington Cemetery for a few minutes until Steve finally located the directions on his iPhone. What did we do before those things?
● Joking around with Skyline while Ted Donat went over the rules.
● Pretending to hand Maxx Factor our lunch money after we heard their sound check. They got a chuckle out of that one.
● Shooting the breeze with Megan Gee hours before the show.
● “Blogging” back stage.
● Then actually blogging back stage.
● Watching Vocaldente’s performance while the judges deliberated. Despite having seen them several times before, they are still very, very funny, and very, very good.
● Milling about with the audience during the afterglow. The Maxx Factor ladies mentioned that they are good buddies with “Shooter McGavin”. They immediately jump up 100 points on my “coolness” meter.
● Hanging out with good friends after the afterglow at Murphy’s Pub.
● Rocking out to Guitar Hero at Tara and Jeep’s place, who were gracious enough to provide lodging for me and Mike on Saturday night. Unfortunately Jeep was not present for the show.
● Having breakfast with my aunt and uncle from Baltimore (and Mike too) who came to see the A Cappella Showcase Chorus concert on Sunday.
● Spotting my aunt, uncle, cousin-in-law, and his little 2-year old daughter in the audience.
● Forgetting part of the 2nd verse in “I’m a Believer” and mumbling nonsense into the mic for 5 seconds, then straining to hit the notes as I tried to ramp the ending.
● One of the guest groups at the Showcase concert had a singer named Dave Wilson, who just so happens to be really funny, incredibly smart, and strikingly handsome.
● Watching Vocaldente perform at the Showcase. Did I mention they are very, very funny and very, very good?
● Hanging with the Showcase Chorus and Vocaldente at the afterglow. Two favorite moments: singing “Thriller” and seeing the look of glee on Vocaldente’s faces, and singing “It’s Alright” while the entire room sang along.
