Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The Dartmouth Aires

Summer got me hooked on NBC's "The Sing-Off" a couple of months ago. I've been recording it every Monday evenings while I'm at choir and eagerly looking forward to watching it on Tuesday so we could rehash the performances and share our thoughts.

"The Sing-Off" is a talent competition for a capella singing groups. Everything they do is completely without instrumental accompaniment, so the percussion you hear is entirely vocal (it's called beat-boxing).

The finale was last night, and while I was not surprised the Aires (featured in this post) came in 2nd to Pentatonix, I thought they were wonderful all season.

They had me with their first performance:


But it was their Queen Medley a few weeks ago that had both Summer and I both nearly crying with joy:


It was this performance that prompted me to say to Summer, "If Michael doesn't become a total superstar, there is no justice in this world." That kid has pipes, but more than that, he has the ability to totally captivate an audience.

And this gorgeous version of "Midnight Train to Georgia" could give anyone chills:


But more than being great performers and so much fun to watch, these guys showed true class--they really, really wanted to win the competition, but when Pentatonix took it, the guys of The Dartmouth Aires cheered as loud as anyone in the crowd, and surrounded the winners in a huge group hug right there on the stage. They were sad for themselves--of course--but they were happy for their friends, too. It proved that though music can be competitive, there is also a deep respect among artists for the incredible sounds that can be made, and the huge joy that music can inspire in others.

Some other awesome performances by the Aires:


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