162 - The Festival ~ Europe Day 6!

June 5^th, 2011 – The Festival

                In all honesty, I am really writing the entry for the 5^th on Monday the 6^th.  It was another very long day; we weren’t even on our way back to the hotel until midnight!  But it was a great day.  J We were all happy to have a more leisurely morning, as COW didn’t have to compete until around 1pm.  We left the hotel at about 11:30, which was nice – er, nibes (joke by Anthony and Luke, perpetuated by Kelvin to annoy Stephanie… yeah, don’t worry about it.  :P)  haha. 

                The storms started again, as in torrential downpour of epic proportions (you could shower outside if you had soap and didn’t mind cold water), right before we were scheduled to go on.  Consequently, and to Dr. Nance’s relief, we were delayed for probably about 30 minutes.  When it was finally time for us to sing, our performance of “Jubilate Deo” was probably one of the best we had ever had!  The storm picked up during “Oh Shenandoah,” but we kept going.  However, the judges had trouble hearing it and called for a time out.  We sat around onstage for at least another 10 minutes.  The audience was wonderful in spite of our circumstances … some man even provided about 20 waters for us!  (We weren’t sure if he purchased them or what, but it was a nice gesture nonetheless!)  When the rain and thunder finally eased up, we sang Shenandoah again and ended with “My Soul’s Been Anchored in the Lord.”  It was one of our best renditions, in terms of dynamic contrast and tempo!  Woot!  J

                From there we hurried off to the men’s competition.  We missed most of their competitors in order to grab lunch, but we caught part of the Louisville men’s performance, which was impressive (they were the other American group present at the festival).  Our men were fantastic and on fire!!  So proud!  J

Woohoo PLU!

                After the men finished, we changed out of choir gear into normal clothes to wait for the awards ceremony, which started at 5:30pm.  Steph, Kelvin, Lauren, and I grouped together, got some ice cream (choco-chip this time around), and killed time with a game of Phase 10 – so glad I thought to bring it! 

We are having so. much. fun.  But really!

A surprise joust to pass the time!

We ended up starting the COW table, situated right at the front of the stage and incidentally right next to Louisville.  The tent became kind of a wild ruckus as the anticipation mounted.  A lot of people were on the tipsy side…



So you can get an idea of the crowd in the tent.

We were all ecstatic when COW won 2^nd place overall for mixed though!  The best part of the evening was when our men tied for first with a group from Taipei!  We were sort of friends with Louisville (whose men got 3^rd… their mixed group won 1^st), but it was nice to beat them at something because they are technically perfect, in music-speak.  Many hugs and cheers ensued!


Woohoo!  Second place!



We we we so excited! (Yes, I just did that)



We are manly men, men in choir!

                We changed into choir polos at the house where we were invited to keep our things (#2), and were on our own for dinner.  Most of the choir went to a pizza and kebob shop in the neighborhood.  Found diet (or “light”) Coke and mushroom pizza which was so delicious! 

Outside of the shop.

Yay dinner!  Tasted better than it looks in this photo... haha.

The shop was quite small, so most of us sat around outside, laughing, eating, and singing.  After dinner, I moseyed through the neighborhood back to the festival grounds with my friends Bryan, Jason, Sam, and Kim. 



I told you my imaginary cat is real!!!  (Don't worry about it if you don't get it.  :P)



Tasted some of their beer, and actually found that it tasted okay!  (No judging, please!)  We spent a lot of time just hanging out with various people outside the main tent.  Bryan and Jason photo-bombed some Slovenian group’s picture, and a rather tipsy friendship was born.  Haha.  Also did a lot of scatting/goofy singing with Bryan, Jason, and Julian – good times had by all!

Photo-bombing friendships... who knew?

                We warmed up to sing for the winners’ concert at about 10:30pm – we were on around 11:15.  The men sang La Cucaracha, we sang “My Soul’s…” together and did “A Mighty Fortress” as our encore.  PLUtonic also sang, about 2 or 3 groups later (including our U of E friends!) and did “Staying Alive” with “One Day” as their encore.  

The men's group from Taipei who tied with our men for first!



U of E rockin' it out again!



PLUtonic Stayin' Alive.  :)

Then we vamoosed!  Everyone was exhausted, but happy.  J  Steph and Jessie showered while I packed up.  Bed time was 1:30, with my alarm set for 5AM so I could get up with enough shower time… ugh!

… I miss the festival!

Love&Harmony,

Erin