With the roll of credits and host Marno van der Merwe encouraging audiences to sing, the Free State regional of Varsity Sing wraps up. This signals the end of regional rounds of the inaugural televised university choir competition as it steams ahead to semi-finals.
Last week we learnt that Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) dropped out at the last minute, as their rehearsals were interrupted by strike action on their campus. Thus both the University of the Free State (Kovsies) and Central University of Technology, Free State (CUT) proceed straight to the semis; what they were performing for over the last two episodes was points and position.
In the competition, the choirs select music for the “Own Choice”, “South African Composition” and “Original Composition” categories. First up was CUT who opened with their Own Choice song, “As long as I have music”.
They sang a little under pitch but they looked happy and were expressive, something choirs forget to do during challenging music pieces. They looked like they were enjoying themselves.
The balance of voices was good but their voices were slightly heavier than the song. The judges noted the improvement in their performance. Nicholas Nicolaides, who is filling for Christo Burger, who is away in Italy, said they “stepped up to the plate”.
Straight-talker Marvin Kernelle said, “I waited for this, brilliant!”
Their original song “Viva Varsity Sing Viva” was cheery, vibrant piece that further displayed their expressiveness through actions and choreography even though it lacked in melody. CUT were definitely the surprise act of the night.
Meanwhile, last week’s favourite Kovsies began to tank this week. Conductor Bonisile Gcisa may have had good intentions, but their own choice “Lord I trust thee” sounded like a hard-on-the-ear cacophony. There was not much emotion showed and their voice blending was messy, there was too much alto and soprano sound.
“I’m worried. That sounded like a whole other choir,” said Kernelle. Guest judge and Kovsies alumnus Jannie Moolman said they “can do better”. They wrapped up with the piece “Excerpts from SA Cantata”. Here, there was better voice blending and no dominant sounds.
They were struggling to sing with the accompanist though and they need to pay more attention to their conductor Gcisa. Nicolaides said they had “beautiful blending”.
It was revealed that over the two episodes, CUT ranked higher than Kovsies. Lastly, there were a few surprises as the ranking of the semi-finalists were revealed. Although many, including some of judges, expected Stellenbosch University (Maties) to rank higher, they placed third. But I suspect that’s only going to motivate them in the upcoming semis.
The ranking as it stands is:
1. Tuks Camerata
2. NMMU
3. Maties
4. UJ
5. Rhodes
6. CUT
7. Kovsies
8. UWC
Catch Varsity Sing on Thursday, 15 September at 8.30 for the first semi-final, as we draw nearer to crowning South Africa’s best university choir.
By Wendyl Martin, Weekend Argus
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