Almost nothing like "Glee", thankfully

Saturday was certainly not a day of relaxation. Mac was participating in a vocal competition. His school didn't have the money for a bus due to budget cuts so I had to take him. The regional competition was at a school that would normally be about an hour away from here. BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!

First, some background. Midwest weather tends to play havoc with events this time of year and Friday night/ Saturday morning were no exceptions. Friday night a HUGE winter storm system moved in the area and the weather forecast was predicting between 3-20 inches of snow to be on the ground by Saturday morning. (I would like to point out that there is a slight difference between 3-20 inches. Seriously, couldn't they narrow that gap just a tad???) The wind was howling and the snow was flying so thick I couldn't see the houses across the street on Friday night. Then the delays and cancellations came rolling across the bottom of the television screen, telling us the music competition was delayed an hour- this was all Friday night- and then Mac's choir teacher telephoned Friday night at 10:30 pm to give us the game plan for Saturday, which was that if it's not canceled then Mac will sing at 11:25 am rather than 10:25 am. She also said she would call before 8am if it was canceled.

So Saturday morning, we get up at 6:30 am to get ready. I want to be ready so we can leave at 8 am to be there on time and to give me extra driving time because of the weather. It had stopped snowing, finally, but the wind was still blowing. All the other events in the county where the music competition was being held had already been canceled, but NOT the music competition.

Mac and I heard from his choir teacher and she said we could try to go if we wanted or skip it because she said the roads are so terrible- her was so bad she couldn't get down her own road and she was going to the competition but it would be awhile before she could get there herself!. Of course Mac wanted to try and since I'm not scared of some nasty old snow (respectful yes, scared no-- remember me, the girl who drove across the country in a blizzard?) we took off. It took me about 2 hours and 10 minutes to make it. The roads were nasty but since I was slow and cautious we were fine.

Upon arrival, it was sort of like a scene out of Glee or Fame. Kids were running around in various forms of costumes. They were humming and singing in clumps and groups. Piano music spilled from rooms everywhere. Scales can sound like a song when in this situation, in case anyone wants to know. Of course when you get a bunch of high schools kids together who LOVE to perform and who are good at it, you have a massive quantity of D*R*A*M*A!! Girls were barfing in the bathroom from nerves. Girls and a few gay boys were crying because they didn't place first. (And I'm not being stereotypical; they really were gay because the kids Mac and I know knew these 2 boys and said they were gay.) Music was tossed, doors were slammed, boys and girls alike were pouting over something, prima donas were on cloud nine.

After sorting out all the mixed up times, finding practice rooms, marked music, accompanists, and teachers Mac finally got to sing. He was amazing. I was stunned. He just blew me away. He sang "Into the Night" which is a formal piece, as are all the songs students must sing if they're going to be eligible for State competition. He competed and he got a first place! This means he'll go to a state wide competition on Feb. 20.

Now, the kids don't compete against each other, but just against themselves. There's a special list of songs the kids can chose from to sing if they want to go to the State level; these are Division I songs. They have to sing this semi-classical crap that no one's ever heard before if they want to compete at Division I; otherwise, if they don't care about State, kids can sing anything they want- I heard more junk from High School Musical today than I ever want to hear in my life. Kids all pick a song and practice it for several months with their choir teachers (usually, or voice coaches for the lucky ones) and then come to this regional competition and sing in front of a judge at an assigned time.

The kids get go to compete and their judge is given a copy of the sheet music and can follow along as the kids perform. There's a list of criteria to mark the kids on and they can earn a total of a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place according to how they did on their piece. Anyone who got a first place in Division I gets to go to the State competition. The rules/ set up is the same as the regional, and they have to sing the same song, obviously. So, guess what I'm doing two weeks from yesterday?

I'm really proud of Mac; he did a great job and sounded wonderful! What a great kid! And talented!

Proud mama,
Maggie Mae