Real-Life A Capella Competitions- Not Just on Glee!

The Dicks and Janes performing Bicycle Race at ICCA Quarterfinals, 2012
That's me singing Freddy Mercury's solo!

This weekend, the Dicks and Janes, along with three other groups from the University of Michigan, competed in the International Competition of Collegiate A Cappella, better known to all of us as ICCAs. The Quarterfinal round was hosted this year at U of M by the G-Men, an all-male a cappella group that also competed. There are five quarterfinals in the Midwest region with 10 competitors each, as well as many other quarterfinals around the country. The winner and runner up of each quarterfinal goes on to compete in that region's semi-final, the Midwest Semifinal being in St. Louis in March.

I am a proud member of the Dicks and Janes, and since September, we have been working on making every song in our repertoire sound performance-ready, always wondering in the back of our minds what our Musical Director (a Junior neuroscience major who is fabulous with music) would pick for us to perform. After last year's quarterfinals, in which we did not place, we were hoping to up our game and put everything out on the table during competition this time around. In January, we decided that our set for ICCAs this year would consist of three songs- Bicycle Race by Queen, a mash-up of Fly Me to the Moon and Fever by Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee, respectively, and My Heart With You, by the Rescues. Our goal was to make this the best performance that we possibly could, and during the two months that we solidly rehearsed day in and day out, we had a blast making beautiful music with each other.

During Fly Me to the Moon, we danced the salsa on stage!

We knew we would be judged on a variety of things by three different judges, all members of Varsity Vocals, the organization that produces ICCAs each year. Some of the criteria included dynamics, visual cohesiveness, choreography (that was one of my favorite parts, as you can see from the pictures) and complexity of arrangements. Note that all of our arrangements as of right now have been arranged by the brilliant and musically gifted members of the Dicks and Janes. We knew we would be taking a huge risk with the songs that we chose, the choreography that we designed, and the seamless transitions that flowed between songs. However, with practice, we were soon incredibly comfortable with the set we designed and we were ready to be on stage and share our music with an audience.

We arrived on Saturday afternoon to Rackham auditorium, where we pulled the concert order out of a hat and were selected to go 7th, giving us a little time to mentally prepare and enjoy the performances of the other groups. There were all male groups, all female groups, and co-ed groups from universities in the area such as GVSU, Michigan State, and Central Michigan University. It's nice to see some of the same members, year after year, and to continuously meet new people in this very large a cappella community. There's always that feeling of competition between each group, but the best feeling of the night by far was coming off stage and seeing another group waiting to high-five our team for a job well done. It reminded us that this isn't just a competition; it's the one time a year where we can all really enjoy the stellar performances that groups from around the state created to share with one another- and make friends along the way!

Fly Me to the Moon/Fever-definitely a crowd favorite.

Finally, it was our turn to go up on stage and sing. For months we rehearsed, danced, sang, laughed, stressed, and prepared for this moment when we would take the stage. I, along with the rest of the group, felt so comfortable with what we practiced; we were eager and ready to go! Shortly before we took the stage, one of my fellow Janes reminded me that during my Bicycle Race solo, I had to "put it all out on the table," something her dad would tell her before every performance. "You never want to regret not pushing yourself as far as you could go," she said, "but if you give it your all, you'll know." So that's what we did. We gave it our all. The audience cheered and laughed and cried (that last one according to my mother who was in the audience) throughout the 11.5 minute set, and the sound of the applause at the end told us that we gave it everything we could. At that point, I didn't care if we won or lost. It was an honor to perform on stage with my best friends, my brothers and sisters, and the most talented people I've ever met.

We started and ended our set with a half of Bicycle Race. 

At the end of the night, awards were announced. I am proud to say that the Dicks and Janes were the winners of the Midwest Quarterfinals, with the G-Men in second place, and we will be traveling with them to St. Louis in a month to compete in the Midwest Semifinals! It was an incredible experience to have participated in this competition, but the practice leading up to it was the best part. Deliberate practice not only made us perform better during the competition, but it allowed us to foster our creative abilities and confidence. We worked together solidly as a team and had an unforgettable night that I'm sure each of us will remember for a long time.