I always find pleasure watching performances at the Far Eastern University's auditorium despite its less than ideal acoustics. The director of the President's Committee on Culture, Martin Lopez, is an excellent host and I've also become friends with some of the students who serve as ushers during these events. So when it was announced that there will be another show in line with the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the PCC, I immediately checked if I was free on that date. Fortunately, my schedule permitted me to watch the group performing on that date: The Synergy Show Choir.
The choir is from Salt Lake City, Utah in the USA and they are made up of around 20 performers raning from ages 17-26 years old which is in line with the PCC's celebration theme of focusing on the youth. So it was no longer a surprise that an overwhelming majority of the audience present were also young and it somehow made me feel old.
And I did feel old when I watched the group's performance. They started with a song called We Are Here to Change the World! which could be an original song meant for the group. And by this number alone, I already formed my impression of the group. They combined singing with vigorous dancing which was quite technical especially for the girls in the group. The guys in the group weren't really good dancers but they were very much capable of doing complicated lifts with the some of the girls.
And there was indeed more dancing since they also did a Heal the World Medley which is a number made up of Michael Jackson songs. They also did a Hairspray Medley and The Phantom Medley which is basically a medley of songs from various musicals. Most of the songs were upbeat which meant that there was indeed more dancing involved.
All this dancing and lifting meant that the vocals had to suffer a bit. Their music included backup vocals for the chorus parts but the soloists did sing live and passing the microphone from one soloist to the other was somehow part of the choreography. And it was nice that every member of the group had a solo vocal part. I admit that their vocals didn't impress me as much but I was able to understand that it was very difficult to belt out a tune right after doing a triple pirouette.
But all my doubts regarding the vocal chops of this group was shattered during the encore which was an a cappella performance. They first sang Lean on Me which was quite passable but when they did Paraiso, which is a local song, their vocals finally impressed me. And I also liked the one song they sang after they had their evening meal to show their gratitude to their hosts. I guess this just means that I am indeed getting old since the audience were really into the singing and dancing routine that was the main programme and I responded differently.
This feeling of getting older was magnified by the thousands during a brief forum at the end of the show. The audience were interested in finding out who's single or not among the members and asked if they have facebook accounts. Afterwards, the group was mobbed by people asking for photos and autographs.
This show may not have been for me but I still appreciated the performance. I admit that I liked the dancing a lot more than the singing. I rarely see good dancing on popular television programs and it was really a delight to see dancers with solid technique live. And seeing how the young audience reacted was also very amusing and it was like another show in itself for me.
The choir is from Salt Lake City, Utah in the USA and they are made up of around 20 performers raning from ages 17-26 years old which is in line with the PCC's celebration theme of focusing on the youth. So it was no longer a surprise that an overwhelming majority of the audience present were also young and it somehow made me feel old.
And I did feel old when I watched the group's performance. They started with a song called We Are Here to Change the World! which could be an original song meant for the group. And by this number alone, I already formed my impression of the group. They combined singing with vigorous dancing which was quite technical especially for the girls in the group. The guys in the group weren't really good dancers but they were very much capable of doing complicated lifts with the some of the girls.
And there was indeed more dancing since they also did a Heal the World Medley which is a number made up of Michael Jackson songs. They also did a Hairspray Medley and The Phantom Medley which is basically a medley of songs from various musicals. Most of the songs were upbeat which meant that there was indeed more dancing involved.
All this dancing and lifting meant that the vocals had to suffer a bit. Their music included backup vocals for the chorus parts but the soloists did sing live and passing the microphone from one soloist to the other was somehow part of the choreography. And it was nice that every member of the group had a solo vocal part. I admit that their vocals didn't impress me as much but I was able to understand that it was very difficult to belt out a tune right after doing a triple pirouette.
But all my doubts regarding the vocal chops of this group was shattered during the encore which was an a cappella performance. They first sang Lean on Me which was quite passable but when they did Paraiso, which is a local song, their vocals finally impressed me. And I also liked the one song they sang after they had their evening meal to show their gratitude to their hosts. I guess this just means that I am indeed getting old since the audience were really into the singing and dancing routine that was the main programme and I responded differently.
This feeling of getting older was magnified by the thousands during a brief forum at the end of the show. The audience were interested in finding out who's single or not among the members and asked if they have facebook accounts. Afterwards, the group was mobbed by people asking for photos and autographs.
This show may not have been for me but I still appreciated the performance. I admit that I liked the dancing a lot more than the singing. I rarely see good dancing on popular television programs and it was really a delight to see dancers with solid technique live. And seeing how the young audience reacted was also very amusing and it was like another show in itself for me.
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