I'm back! You probably didn't miss me, but I missed blogging! Now that I'm officially a 2nd semester senior, I'm going to try to actually blog at least once a week.
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend Sangeet Saagar 2015 at NC State University, a South-Asian fusion A Capella competition with 6 teams. Here is a short review about the teams that were there.
1. Ohio State University Dhadkan- This fairly new team began the show strong with rhythmic beats and enthusiastic choreography. Their arrangement of "Sun Raha Hai/Chandelier" was well transitioned and amazed me as the male vocalist for "Sun Raha Hai" was not even Indian! Their next song, "Bachna Ae Haseeno/Koi Mil Gaya" is a popular choice, but not done as well as I've heard. The "trrrrr" for "Bachna Ae Haseeno" needs to be more aggressive. "Koi Mil Gaya" was blended well and involved the whole group with its many solo parts.
2. Case Western University Dhamakapella- This team entered with what I think were the best costumes, and set the stage with a melodious classical number, "Jiya Lage Na", followed by a song I was pretty sure I had heard before. Yup, it was the same arrangement from the other Ohio school, "Sun Raha Hai/Chandelier". I was like
I don't want to compare the two, but CWU's soloists were more defined in their diction and pitch. Lastly, they changed up the beats and ended with an exciting Punjabi song, "Sadi Gali/Party Rock" and left the crowd cheering for more. Overall, CWU had great soloists, beats, and transitions, yet all their soloists were the same making you wonder what may have been wrong with the other singers on the team.
3. Rutgers RAAG- This group began with a very dramatic song which I was like I don't think i know this one, but it sounds good....
I later found out the song was "Awari". And I think I actually really like the song now... The next soloist expertly kept with the pace of "Mere Dholna" mastering the song with clear diction and voice. The team ended with a mix of "Radioactive/Aafton ke Parinde". This last song was a rough blend with the soloist's voices not as clear and almost competing with one another rather than combining together.
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Ohms- The team from "IIT of USA" began with "Royals/Breathless". The latter of which is an extremely difficult song sung without stopping to breathe. Unfortunately the combination of the songs didn't seem to match all that well. Their next song, "I won't give up/Saiyaan" had an amazing soloist with a voice perfectly matching to the song. The team won the crowd with their mastery of the fast paced and tongue-twisting, "Badtameez Dil/Whenever, Wherever". The English song was not done as well, but the accuracy of the lyrics "Badtameez Dil" made up for it.
5. UVA Ektaal- The team which means "one voice" had one slight problem-- a lack of male vocalists. They began with a mix of "Dola Re Dola" with choreo exactly replicating Aish and Madhuri.
Their next song, "Maula Mere/Between the Raindrops" was well transitioned, and kept the high notes for the Hindi song but struggled on the English. The team ended with their arrangement of "Titanium/Uff Teri Adaa/Tu Hai Wahi". Here "Uff Teri Adaa" truly could have used more aggression at the "Jogi Nachle" something that is best achieved by a male voice. The remaining soloists (for both Titanium and Tu Hai Wahi) were perfect and fitted together well with the rest of the song.
6. Penn State University Fanaa- Surprisingly, this team did not do any songs from Fanaa! They opened and pumped up the crowd with "Amplifier". "Suraj Hua Madham" was not up to my expectations; yet I have high expectations since it is one of my favorites. Generally when I hear the song, I feel as if I am in Egypt dancing around the pyramids with Shahrukh Khan,
yet in this version, the rhythm was slightly changed and the both vocalists were slightly off pitch. They ended the show with "Saari Raat/ Up all Night" with an amazing female vocalist yet a slightly off male vocalist who was either unprepared or uncomfortable with song lyrics.
After the 6 competing teams performed, there were two special performances, UNC Samaa and NC State Grains of Time. UNC Samaa had me with their on point replica of Taylor Swift's "Blank Space" yet slightly struggled with the diction on "Bahara". I died when I heard their "SRK Medley", it was just too perfect for words.
In the end, the winner was MIT Ohms and runner up was CWU Dhamakapella. I would actually have to agree with this verdict. I probably would've given it to CWU had they had more diversity in their soloists. All in all, the show was very exciting and fun to watch with all teams performing amazingly. I hope to go to more of such showcases in the future!
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend Sangeet Saagar 2015 at NC State University, a South-Asian fusion A Capella competition with 6 teams. Here is a short review about the teams that were there.
2. Case Western University Dhamakapella- This team entered with what I think were the best costumes, and set the stage with a melodious classical number, "Jiya Lage Na", followed by a song I was pretty sure I had heard before. Yup, it was the same arrangement from the other Ohio school, "Sun Raha Hai/Chandelier". I was like
I don't want to compare the two, but CWU's soloists were more defined in their diction and pitch. Lastly, they changed up the beats and ended with an exciting Punjabi song, "Sadi Gali/Party Rock" and left the crowd cheering for more. Overall, CWU had great soloists, beats, and transitions, yet all their soloists were the same making you wonder what may have been wrong with the other singers on the team.
3. Rutgers RAAG- This group began with a very dramatic song which I was like I don't think i know this one, but it sounds good....
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Ohms- The team from "IIT of USA" began with "Royals/Breathless". The latter of which is an extremely difficult song sung without stopping to breathe. Unfortunately the combination of the songs didn't seem to match all that well. Their next song, "I won't give up/Saiyaan" had an amazing soloist with a voice perfectly matching to the song. The team won the crowd with their mastery of the fast paced and tongue-twisting, "Badtameez Dil/Whenever, Wherever". The English song was not done as well, but the accuracy of the lyrics "Badtameez Dil" made up for it.
5. UVA Ektaal- The team which means "one voice" had one slight problem-- a lack of male vocalists. They began with a mix of "Dola Re Dola" with choreo exactly replicating Aish and Madhuri.
Their next song, "Maula Mere/Between the Raindrops" was well transitioned, and kept the high notes for the Hindi song but struggled on the English. The team ended with their arrangement of "Titanium/Uff Teri Adaa/Tu Hai Wahi". Here "Uff Teri Adaa" truly could have used more aggression at the "Jogi Nachle" something that is best achieved by a male voice. The remaining soloists (for both Titanium and Tu Hai Wahi) were perfect and fitted together well with the rest of the song.
6. Penn State University Fanaa- Surprisingly, this team did not do any songs from Fanaa! They opened and pumped up the crowd with "Amplifier". "Suraj Hua Madham" was not up to my expectations; yet I have high expectations since it is one of my favorites. Generally when I hear the song, I feel as if I am in Egypt dancing around the pyramids with Shahrukh Khan,
yet in this version, the rhythm was slightly changed and the both vocalists were slightly off pitch. They ended the show with "Saari Raat/ Up all Night" with an amazing female vocalist yet a slightly off male vocalist who was either unprepared or uncomfortable with song lyrics.
After the 6 competing teams performed, there were two special performances, UNC Samaa and NC State Grains of Time. UNC Samaa had me with their on point replica of Taylor Swift's "Blank Space" yet slightly struggled with the diction on "Bahara". I died when I heard their "SRK Medley", it was just too perfect for words.
In the end, the winner was MIT Ohms and runner up was CWU Dhamakapella. I would actually have to agree with this verdict. I probably would've given it to CWU had they had more diversity in their soloists. All in all, the show was very exciting and fun to watch with all teams performing amazingly. I hope to go to more of such showcases in the future!
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