On Saturday, Feb. 22, two Eastern Michigan University a cappella groups performed at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella. Both Evergreen and Emerald Harmony were at the quarterfinals for the Great Lakes region at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor.
There are three separate a cappella groups on campus, and each has made it into the ICCAs in the past. The ICCAs are a four-month competition that utilize a bracket system going from quarterfinals, to semifinals, to the finals. Across nine regions within the U.S and Europe, 450 groups are competing this year. Groups that end up in the finals will get to perform at Beacon Theatre in New York City.
To make it to the quarterfinals each group had to film three performances, fill out the application, pay the audition fees, and send their videos to Varsity Vocals, the team that runs and judges the ICCAs. About 800 groups audition, and only 450 are able to compete. The co-president and co-music director of EMU Evergreen, Cori Walczak, said getting into the quarterfinals was an accomplishment all on its own.
“This is a huge opportunity for an a cappella group, and should be respected with the highest honor," Walczak said.
Along with the audition process, there’s rules that each group must follow to be eligible for the competition. Each member must be a full-time participant, meaning they can’t just be there for the tournament. The rules only allow for up to three non-students to be members, and only as long as they are also full-time participants. No more than 24 members per group and no instruments of any kind are allowed to be used during the performance. Each group has only 10 minutes to perform, about three songs. Violations of any rules could result in disqualification from the tournament.
The judging for the competition relies on a system of categories. From a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the best, the judges score teams on vocal problems such as intonation, blend, and dynamics. They also score on visual problems such as creativity, professionalism, and stage presence. The judges also rank their top three performances, each rank has a corresponding point value that is added on to the team's score. There’s also special awards given for outstanding arrangement, outstanding choreography, outstanding vocal percussion, and outstanding soloist.
The top two groups from each region move on to the semifinals. Then only the top group from each region can perform at the finals.
Evergreen’s set list consisted of “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye & Kimbra, “Fortnight” by Taylor Swift, and “Part of Me” by Katy Perry.
“From a leadership standpoint, I was beyond proud and happy with my group's performance. I honestly think it was the best they've ever performed," Walczak said. “Unfortunately, Evergreen and Emerald Harmony did not advance.”
However, the ICCAs is not just about winning, it’s also about the experience. Being able to perform in new venues, meeting and networking with other singers, and learning how to handle competition, as well as loss.
“The experience was great nonetheless,” Walczak said.
For more information on the competition's rules or to secure to tickets for the next stages, visit Varsity Vocals.
