Birmingham’s Barden Bellas: Join the Uptone Girls in their prep for the ICCAs

Just like the 2012 hit film Pitch Perfect, the University of Birmingham has its very own twelve-member all-female identifying acapella group, inviting a diverse range of voices to sing in harmony and compete against other national and global universities.

I sat down with President Catherine and Musical Director Heather to hear more about the group and their intense rehearsals in preparation for the ICCAs, which were held in Birmingham at The Crescent Theatre on Sunday 15th February.

The ICCAs

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Uptone Girls (@uptonegirls)

The Birmingham quarter finals included eight acapella groups from across the UK.  Each group gets a ten-minute slot to sing their hearts out and the top two are sent to the national finals in London, where the winner is invited to the international finals in New York.

This year the three songs the Uptone Girls performed are LABOUR (the cacophony)- Paris Paloma, I’m Tired- Labrinth from Euphoria and Clarity- Zedd. In the past they have performed songs including No Diggity- Blackstreet but decided to go for a more emotion-filled sound this year. A politics student like me, Heather clued me in on the undertones of feminism throughout the set, hoping to make an impact on the stage.

They have been rehearsing non-stop with a week of bootcamp where rehearsals were six hours every day. The girls admitted it is “intense” but necessary as “90 per cent of [acapella] is confidence”. Eleven of the current seventeen Uptone’s are freshers to the group, with only one of them having acapella experience. Heather explained that the Uptone Girls are “magical in that way”, everyone is welcome. Catherine echoed this saying the group is “open to all musical experience … we have people with grades and grades of experience and people that have only really sung in the shower”.

As a female-only group, the girls highlighted that the competitions don’t come without struggles. They have been “penalised” in the past, with Catherine mentioning they “struggle to balance what [the judges] want us to come across as”. Not to mention that they are “inherently at a disadvantage” as a female-only group, not being able to hit the lower notes.

They are also judged on choreography, and in 2022 the Uptone’s won a wild card entry to progress onto the London semi-finals.

Performing in Birmingham

In the past, the quarter finals have been in Exeter, Nottingham and London, and the girls admitted it is “good for morale” for the competition to be in Birmingham, making it easy for friends and family to come and support. Especially for the final years like Catherine and Heather, they mentioned it is nice to be on “home turf for our last year”.

Being in Birmingham this year also bring extra pressures though with the Uptones being responsible for organising volunteers and planning the post-competition celebrations.

Competition day

Most Read

Everything else John Davidson shouted at the BAFTAs, as racial slur causes Tourette’s debate

Omg, Bonnie Blue reveals she’s actually pregnant after 400-man no protection challenge

Manon from KATSEYE reveals the ‘real reason’ she left the group and it’s actually so sad

The competition is a whole day affair, starting at 9am where names are picked out of a hat to determine the running order of the sets. There are sound checks and rehearsals until the competition starts. The ten minutes on stage are the most important of the year with Catherine telling me how unexpectedly exhausting they are “giving your all for ten minutes”.

You are judged on everything, which the girls say is why it’s also so intense. Rehearsals are about trying to get your stamina up as their performance consists of running around, choreography, holding a mic at a specific position and, of course, singing perfectly.

Costumes are also important, with the Uptone’s uniform being black sparkles and sequins. Heather said she likes it because you can have some “individuality” through the sparkles. Some girls wear sparkly tops or trousers, but they can all show their personalities while being united. Other groups wear velvet blazers which I thought was very Pitch Perfect (hello Treblemakers!).

Pitch Perfect

Speaking of Pitch Perfect, the question that was on my mind for the whole conversation, is it exactly like the films? Heather admitted it is “exactly like the movies”, with the same two presenters, Gemma and Chris, every year at the ICCAs and harmonies flying around the rehearsal spaces.

They told me that last year they shared a changing room with Warwick University’s Leamingtones and as they warmed up the Leamingtones joined in, all singing in unison. Catherine explained as they “all do this quite niche hobby, there have been years where you all do group warmups together […] at the end of the day, we are all just there to have fun”.

Eager to get back to rehearsals, I was invited to see a full run-through of the ICCA set- choreography included! It was lovely watching them and I felt so much joy walking out of the dingy underground practice space that the group completely lit up. What stood out to me was how much genuine fun they were all having while performing. Although this in an intense time, you can see the real friendship behind the performance, with Heather emphasising how close they all are, getting on like a “house on fire”.

The Uptone Girls only became an independent Guild society this year, going from strength to strength with seventy girls turning up to audition for eleven spots.

Heather said their aim is about “creating a nice community… we do try hard and we do want to be successful, but at the end of the day its more about going on stage and making yourself proud of what you’ve put out there”.

Catherine added: “That being said we are quite competitive and work hard.”

Ultimately, they highlighted to me the legacy they want to leave at Birmingham. They both echoed the sentiment of “sisterhood” that the group aims to foster, and I certainly saw that when I saw them perform on Sunday, winning the Outstanding Choreography prize and placing fourth.

If you want to see what else they get up to this year, follow them on Instagram @uptonegirls.

For more of the latest news, guides, gossip, and memes, follow The Birmingham Tab on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Featured image via Instagram @uptonegirls