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‘Kids are fired up’
Published February 4, 2010
Scott Rains and his Albertville City Schools choirs are ready to play a role they’ve never tackled before.
This weekend, Rains’ choirs will play host to the first-ever Diamond Classic Invitational show choir competition in Albertville. The Albertville choirs routinely travel to numerous competitions but this is the first year they have been able to play host to a similar event.
Nearly 30 choirs from four states will arrive Friday and Saturday for the two-day competition schedule.
“Things are really on track to be a great weekend,” Rains said. “Our kids are really fired up and ready to play host to all their friends and fellow choir members.”
Beginning at 5 p.m. Friday, eight middle school choirs will compete, along with two soloist competitions. VocalPoint, the Albertville Middle School show choir, will perform an exhibition at 8:40 p.m. Awards will be handed out at 9:30 p.m. as the event winds up for the night. The Friday night middle school competition is different from the high school show choir competition, in that the groups are scored as they perform and there are no finalists.
Saturday, 20 choirs will compete beginning at 8:30 a.m. Men’s and women’s, small and large mixed choirs will compete until the supper break at 7 p.m. Following the meal break, two soloists will compete followed by the six finalists’ performances. CenSations! will perform an exhibition just before the supper break and CenterStage! will perform just before the final awards are given out. Awards and trophies for grand champion and first and second runners up will be handed out at 11 p.m.
Audience members will be treated to nearly 30 high-caliber show choir performances and amazing feats of logistical engineering. Each choir has a certain amount of time to set up and tear down their sets and only 20 minutes to perform.
This year, the CenterStage! choir will perform a routine entitled “Faces.”
Choirs slated to perform include groups from South Jones and Petal, Miss., Opelika, Hoover and Homewood.
An estimated 4,000 friends, relatives and supporters are expected to descend upon Albertville Friday and Saturday. Many are expected to make the drive from the Birmingham area Saturday morning, while many others have booked rooms at the Jamison Inn and Microtel, in Albertville, the Guntersville Hampton Inn and the Fairfield Inns and Suites in Gadsden.
Judges from Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky will join a judge from Enterprise to oversee and critique the two-day event.
Trophies will be given to the grand champion and first and second runners up.
As the host school, Albertville students will be on hand, working throughout the event with more than 200 local volunteers to provide first aid, lost and found, costume repair and other duties as needed. Volunteers will direct traffic and assist motorists with parking, sell programs, assist in serving meals and be available to fulfill choirs and support staff needs.
Organizers say they hope to use technology and the Fine Arts Center as a way to set themselves and the Diamond Classic apart from other annual competitions.
“We plan to give each choir who makes it to the finals a ‘congratulations’ cart full of snacks, water, fruit and sandwiches. There is sometimes very little turnaround time for choir who perform first in the finals to both get ready and have time to eat,” said Kim Wilabay, Diamond Classic chairman.
“We also plan to have a dedicated seamstress on hand to help with costume repairs and we have a staff of volunteer available to provide custodial and security services, man a lost and found booth and provide first aid services.
“Our kids will help with staging, help check performers and work in any way they are needed.”
Judges will be issued iPods to help in the scoring and feedback processes. Traditionally, comments are recorded on cassette tapes along with the choir’s performance and given to each team. Using the iPods, said co-director Natasha Tidmore, will streamline the process while giving teams more immediate, better quality recordings.
“We want this to be the competition people want to put on their schedules for next year when they leave here,” Wilabay said.
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