Sunday, January 30, 2011

Riverport Chorus Diva Quest

Riverport Chorus from Kenosha, Wisconsin, affiliated with Sweet Adelines International Women Barbershop Singers, is nine-time regional champion chorus and has competed in several international competitions in cities including Houston, San Antonio, New Orleans, Salt Lake City, Atlanta, Portland, Phoenix, Detroit, and Calgary. They have placed as high as tenth in the world.







Last night they held their fifth "Diva Quest" competition, a vocal scholarship competition for high school women to showcase their vocal abilities and earn money for school. Since 2006, The Diva Quest Scholarship Competition has been helping young women cultivate their vocal abilities with an emphasis on promoting personal growth and self-confidence.

Of seventeen young ladies from local Wisconsin and Illinois schools who auditioned, eight competed tonight, each performing one solo. The winner was determined by a combination of audience votes (25%) and a panel of 4 judges (75%). The judges critique each performance using a 10 point scale in these 5 criteria: Song Choice, Intonation, Tone Flow, Vocal Style, and Visual Presentation. Scholarships were awarded to the top five contestants, with $1000 going to the winner.

Below shows (l to r) Kitchiana Howard (Racine Park HS), the reigning 2010 Diva, and this year's contestants, Alexandra Brent (Wilmot HS), Ashli Witten Keller (Grayslake Central HS), Lonyai Carter (Indian Trail Academy), Ainslie Minkley (Burlington HS), this year's winner Micah Gebel (Burlington HS), Mirage Goff (Waterford Union HS), Madison Crosby (Kaplan Online School), and Bethany Putney (Burlington HS).



While the votes were being tabulated, the marvelous MadHatters entertained us.  They are an internationally touring mens a cappella group based out of Madison, WI. Singing tunes both past and present, their vocalists and vocal percussionist lived up to the website description of "goofy guys making good music and bringing fun to the community."

Here's a sample of their lively entertainment...




..and if you don't know what "beat box" percussion is, all of the sounds came from one guy -- check out this clip...



Here's my post from their concert last year.

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