Review: A Cappella Championships

On Friday the Scottish A Cappella Championships came to Fife, pitch pipes were readied and nerves mounted for the seven groups competing. Each group had twelve minutes in which to prove their worth to three qualified judges.

First up was reigning champions, Choral Stimulation(lol), a kilt and tartan clad group. Unlike the rest of the teams, this Glaswegian group performed one long arrangement with no stops in between.  They covered everything from a Use Somebody/Mr. Brightside mash-up to Tina Turner’s classic Do You Believe in Life After Love.  Despite the incorporation of so many songs, the group left empty handed this year.

Second up were the Accidentals, who proved once again that girls truly do run the world, starting with a quiet but powerful rendition of Killing Me Softly.  They then moved into an arrangement of a Black Eyed Peas medley that included Shut Up and My Humps, which earned the prize of Best Arrangement to Ellie Mason.  Ending with Tom Odell’s, Can’t Pretend these ladies proved that their big choreography is matched by bigger voices, and were awarded third place.

The Hummingbirds, another all girls St Andrews group, stepped up their choreography this year and truly entertained.  Their rendition of Rudamental’s, Not Giving In showed off their dance moves and precision.  However their last song that included Don’t Stop the Music showed that their beat boxer Maddie Gunn carried the performance.

With being the new group on campus, The Belles have improved rapidly since their performance at the Christmas concert.  They seemed more united,, which showed in their set, which included Macklemore’s, Same Love and a Katy Perry medley.  However their choreography was not up to the standard that the other groups had set.

The word for the Alleycats has to be, “sharp” – from their black tie and iconic white high top converse, to their incredibly precise dance moves.  It was clear that they had worked hard to create and perfect their set, which reflected in their win of Best Choreography to Jessica Browne.  Right from the start their performance of Put Your Records On highlighted soloist Ayanna Coleman, who was also rewarded by the judges for Best Solo.  Their coordination continued through the ending mash up of Other Side and Wild One.  The Alleycats deservedly won second place.

Aberdeen’s own Aberpella, an all in blue mixed group, made their first appearance at the Championships.  Their opener, I Need Dollar/Thrift Shop although fun didn’t highlight their talent musically, however they brought it back with a cover of True Colours.  They ended their set with a creative and beautiful mash up of I See Fire from The Hobbit and the ever popular Let It Go from Frozen.

The evening ended with St Andrews’ most popular group, The Other Guys, who showed once again that their strength comes from their use of contrast between their quiet perfectly harmonized pieces and the more upbeat and crowd pleasing numbers.  Starting their set with Coldplay’s, Fix You, highlighted their strong vocals and seasoned coordination.  Ending with a self proclaimed “flamboyant” version of Ignition (which they encored after their first place win as well as Outstanding Vocal Percussion to Richard Phillips), they once again proved that there are no other guys as amazing as The Other Guys.

Congratulations to all the groups involved – it was an amazing night!

Photo Courtesy of – St Andrews A Capella Society