>James here....
>
>Could it be they like good singing, not considering range ?
....wish I could say that was true, James. If it were, than a talented
soprano I know who did a Puccini set would have won last year, over the
hair-dryer who didn't handle "Che bel il sogno di Doretta" HALF as well.
As many of the voice faculty will tell you, they will almost always select
whoever does the more popular or flashy songs, over those who sing less
popular songs, sung well.
For the past two years, students (non-vocal majors)with iffy techniques and
hard to hear voices were selected for different reasons. Last year, it was
because she was cute and smiley. This year, it was just because she selected
"Glitter and be Gay" and it sounded halfway decent.
It's not only my opinion here....... a lot of students and faculty were
surprised and upset. Not only because this girl won, but because she
neglected to look on her schedule to see that she was unable to perform at
the actual concert. Yet, they did not select a runner-up. Did I also mention
that among the judges, not one was a singer???? Another thing that irks me
is that the more popular things you do, the more likely it is to win. Of
course I understand that you want to select songs the student orchestra can
play, but if I wanted to hear some of these songs I might as well go spend
an evening at a dinner theater....! I love musical theater as much as the
next person, but it *IS* called the ARIA competition. The other singer who
won last year was a baritone who sang a song from Shenandoah, paired with
"Arm, arm ye brave" by Handel ....!!!
Yes..Concerto/Aria at my school is QUITE an event......
Molly
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