Vegas recap: The 2017 Barbershop Harmony Society held its annual International Convention and contest last week at the AXIS Theater at Planet Hollywood, the largest stage on the Las Vegas strip. And the winners of this year's quartet contest?
MAIN STREET: Mike McGee, Myron Whittlesey, Tony DeRosa and Roger Ross, all of whom have been or currently are performers at Walt Disney World with the Dapper Dans of Main St. USA and/or the Voices of Liberty!
Here is their stunning ballad from the finals on Saturday night. Note: they are normally upbeat and hilarious, as you'd expect from Dapper Dans, and as their viral "Pop Songs Medley" from a few years ago showed. This last song was heartfelt and amazingly emotional, mainly because (unknown to most of the rest of us at the time) they had decided that this contest was their last and they would be retiring as a quartet, whatever the outcome -- so this was actually their "goodbye." Enjoy:
https://youtu.be/iPEY2SE1vXk
[In case, the video embed doesn't work, here's the direct link: https://youtu.be/iPEY2SE1vXk]
And the Vocal Majority? We competed in the chorus contest on Friday; out of a possible 3000 points, we scored 2885. A few groups later, the Masters of Harmony from Santa Fe Springs, CA, topped us by 8 points, so I have another silver medal to add to my collection of two previous silvers and one gold.
Disappointing, yes, but the week was full of amazing memories, including this one. This is the finale from a combined show featuring Vocal Majority and our brothers in the Ambassadors of Harmony from St. Charles, MO -- over 300 voices on the risers, plus two champion quartets (Crossroads and Vocal Spectrum) and ladies' quartet GQ. Enjoy again:
https://youtu.be/PmzFi5P-72w
[In case, the video embed doesn't work, here's the direct link: https://youtu.be/PmzFi5P-72w]
I'm sure a professional version of the entire show will be put up before long, and I'll link to it here. It was phenomenal! I'm enjoying imagining what I would have thought if, as a kid/teen in the 70's, someone would have told me that I'd eventually be performing songs by Barry Manilow, the Beatles, Beethoven and more on a huge stage in Vegas!
