Nor-Cal Sings - Uh-Oh

(See post-competition follow-up below.) I'm not quite sure what I've gotten myself into, but I'm in. I'd been seeing e-mail blasts from something called "NorCal Sings" addressed to the Sierra Community Chorus, and I didn't pay much attention to them. The messages announced a singing contest: think "American Idol" for Northern California (but not the San Francisco Bay area). Preliminary competitions for singers of all kinds of music, aged 7 to 30+ were scheduled for Fairfield, Santa Rosa, Roseville and Sacramento.

I didn't think much about this competition until I got a call from my friend, Nick Lynch, who, I was surprised to learn, was helping with the promotion of this undertaking. He called to ask whether I had suggestions about judges and venues for the final competition. I gave him a number of suggestions in both categories, but his call made me curious enough to check out the Roseville competition which was about to be held at Borders Books in Roseville.

I watched 3 of the 4 hours of the event. Most of the dozens of singers were very young, though there were a few older competitors, including one man who had to be of retirement age. Most could sing pretty well, and it was interesting to see what they could do a cappella in the one minute they were allowed to sing.

I didn't think much more about NorCal Sings until I got another call from Nick the following week, asking if I'd be a judge. What! I didn't see myself as qualified, but Nick was persuasive, and after all, I've devoted a very large chunk of my life to singing and performing. So with quite a bit of trepidation, I accepted.

So now if you go to the NorCal Sings website (www.norcalsings.com) you'll find my picture on the home page, right below Dave Bender, the weatherman on Sacramento's CBS-13. My job is to judge the semi-finals on Sunday, April 25 (it took some soul-searching to decide to get a substitute for church that morning). At this point, I'm philosophical: I'll give it my best shot, and it should certainly be an interesting, unique experience. When I was in law school, it was my ambition to be a judge. Voilà!

Posted April 26:
That was fun! The semi-final competition was held at the old Guild Theater in Sacramento's Oak Park neighborhood, and it ran from 12:30 to 5:30, with about 60 competitors. They had 3 minutes to show what they could do, with any kind of accompaniment they chose (or none), and they were grouped by age range and style (i.e. classical vs. everything else).

Nearly all these people were highly talented, and quite a few were amazing. Interestingly, it was the youngest group that wowed us the most, especially that little 10-year-old with a big voice and amazing stage presence. But then, there was the 84-year-old who sang "The Lady Is a Tramp" à la Frank Sinatra, who had a remarkably good voice and who strutted his stuff like a seasoned entertainer.

The variety of styles was itself refreshing, and I wasn't bored for one moment during those 5 hours. What I was feeling was anxiety: we four judges were expected to give the contestants verbal feedback, and it was a constant struggle to think of something new, accurate and encouraging for contestant after contestant. (OK, I may have exaggerated a bit and told a few white lies. I was, though, brutally honest on the ratings I gave: up to 50 points for vocal quality, up to 35 points for showmanship, and up to 15 points for appropriateness of song choice.)

Another highlight of the event was meeting the other judges. I sat next to Ruthie Bolton, the only Sacramento Monarchs player to have her number retired, winner of two gold medals for womens' basketball, key player on two Auburn University women's basketball teams to reach the Final Four, etc., etc. I was really fascinating to talk to this accomplished woman, who mentioned that she had her two Olympic gold medals out in the car.

I also enjoyed meeting Ashley Williams, a Good Day Sacramento (Channel 31) reporter -- a delightful, articulate, gracious young woman. It was also a pleasure to work with Shawn Ryan, a successful entertainer with a Grammy nomination, CDs, live shows, acting gigs, etc. to his credit. He was the one with the most articulate comments to Sunday's performers.

Some time today, they'll announce the names of those who will go on to next week's final competition at the State Street Theater (Auburn Placer Performing Arts Center) in Auburn. There will be multiple winners, and they will receive a cash prize, a photo shoot, a 2-song professional recording, free work with a voice coach, and their own music video.

I don't know yet whether I'll attend, but I'll be interested to see how this event plays next year. I know from experience that there is an awful lot of talent in our area beyond what I saw on the stage yesterday, and the organizers' plans for next year are for "bigger and better." I guess that leaves me out.