I strongly believe that a good first achievement is as important as a good first impression. This is so very true in Singapore as we still aren’t able to shake the culture that “Local = not good enough”. I hope that one day the prejudice against local musicians would go away and allow the next generation of musicians to start on a levelled playing field. Knowing this, our (The Apex project’s) plan to establish legitimacy was very straightforward - conquer the biggest local Acappella competition and move on to get a name for ourselves internationally.
The biggest and only Acappella competition with decades of history in Singapore is the Singapore Acappella Championships (Acachamps) organised by The Acappella Society (TAS). Shoutout to Angie from TAS for helping us so much during our first visit to Taiwan during Vocal Asia 2016. Acachamps’ international category winners’ Hall of Fame is also filled with many big names. Arguably the most successful local Acappella group, MICappella (I made sure to check the correct spelling), was born from Acachamps.
After our first showcase on the 17th of June 2016, Acachamps was 2nd July. We had barely two weeks to be fully prepared for this. Don’t forget, I was away for my grad trip right after the group’s formation in April all the way up till mid-May. Therefore, we had less than two months to forge team chemistry, blend our voices, be comfortable singing with mics and memorise our choreography. At this point, I believe the group had more chemistry with my sub, Marcus Lye, than me. However, deep inside I knew no one will care about these reasons/excuses if we didn’t manage to win. Can you imagine right after a glorious debut and two weeks later you go on to lose your first competition? I cannot imagine a bigger embarrassment than that.
I am guessing that everyone felt the same way although we were told to “just have fun”. “The most important thing is that we learn from this experience”. I strongly believe that no one was listening to that. Come to think of it, the smart thing to do was to join the competition first and win it THEN debut. If we didn’t win, at least we had a way out. In hindsight, that gamble could be the reason why we did not have a single problem with rehearsing 4 times a week.
A tired Yvonne after one of our rehearsals for Acachamps
On top of that, we only started on our choreography ONE week before the competition. How difficult can Acappella choreography be right? Just walk to your spot, move left to right, bounce to the beat and make sure you come out when it is your turn to sing the lead. I wish. Here is a hint – Yes, we were that group. That group which would do everything just a little bit more, in our case, a lot more. We literally had to dance. Our set was filled with ups and downs, not emotionally, Jean was walking on chairs and Gen was jumping off them. Yes we brought chairs (three chairs) because we just had to be that group. We were kicking, bouncing, stomping, kneeling while vocal-playing different instruments.
Us singing “Sing Sing Sing” and doing all the above mentioned.
If there’s one thing I can remember from this experience (like it was yesterday), it was the final moment when we finished the song. When I got to my final pose, finger pointing to the sky, shouting my last vowel “WAP WA NAO”, that scream and standing ovation from the audience was unforgettable. Thank you to everyone single one of you. I may not remember your faces, but I want you to know that your heartfelt cheers gave me one of my most emotional moments. I know what I said about this being a must-win competition, but after that ending moment, and for the first time since our decision to join Acachamps, I forgot about the desire to win. This was because I felt that I already won. I was so proud of everyone, it was a short three months but it felt like family.
The second thing I can remember about that day was the brutal wait throughout the whole day. This is because Acachamps has many categories, ranging from primary choirs to college groups to the free-for-all groups (the open category) to international groups to beatbox acts. By the time it reached us at the open category, more than 20 groups had performed. After us, 10 more groups were waiting. Then, we got to the most anticipated moment at the award ceremony.
The final moment of the brutal wait was also when we met Pinopela, a killer group from the Philippines who is everything people say about Filipino singers. They walked on stage and completely outclassed every other international group. When they did their version of Adele’s “All I ask”, it was clear as day that they were going to win. If I was in a game of Dota 2, I would describe this as – E.Z. You don’t learn by losing a competition, losing a competition only teaches you that you may not be the cup of tea for the 5 people grading you. You learn by being humbled by a group so good that you deem yourself the loser. You learn by accepting a loss you gave to yourself.
Here’s to the good old days when we were 7, and you guys were about…20 members (Jk, 9 members)
We will meet Pinopela again three years later in Russia. Stay tuned for that story – A story of culture shock and how our 21yo Russian model and tour guide went 1-on-1 with a grown-angry-shouting Russian man.
Finally, the wait was coming to an end. The children’s choir was done celebrating and on the way home to tell their family about their glorious victory. The screams of the college group winners were slowly dying down and next up it’s time to announce the winner of the open category. There were 10 groups and every group will be getting an award from bronze to gold. You get the award based on your score and the top three (usually all golds) will be crowned at the end. This means, every time they call a name that is not your group’s, you are one step closer to the top.
I remember looking down while holding CY and WX on each side. I was just repeating myself, “Ok it is not us” as the host was announcing the awards. I could see that CY was as nervous as I was and WX was trying to calm me down. Our stakes were the highest, the only acceptable result was first. Finally, it was left was the final two groups, The Apex Project and Resonance, and we were asked to stand on stage.
“And the winner for the Acappella championships 2016 Open category, The Apex Project”
We did it. We won. Our future can continue. All or nothing and we got it all. 17th of June marks our introduction to the world and 2nd July marks the beginning of our music career.
My taste of success in Acappella
You see two awards in the photo because we were also given the Best Vocal Percussionist Award. This award was presented to Yvonne, but Bryant received it. There is a short story (and a little rant) behind this, therefore go listen to my podcast for the story as I promised to be nice here.
We are finally here as to why this post is titled “A Bitter Victory”. So far, everything had been sweet, if not extremely savoury. However, once the congratulations were done, all the pictures were taken, and the door to the auditorium closed behind us, we met our first roadblock. Without the desire to win clouding our vision, the crack in the group became awfully clear. We now have to face what we refused to acknowledge over the last few months – Weixin’s plans to focus on his family life. At the bench outside the Singapore polytechnic Auditorium, WX announced his departure from the group.
But… what about our step? Shouldn’t we ride on this success and achieve what we set out to do in the international stage?
I cannot speak for anyone else but I was completely lost.
I know this is not much of a spoiler because you already know we still went to Taiwan, and obviously the group is still alive but the 2016 chapter only gets better from here.
I am pretty sure you guys will enjoy my suffering, so ya, please stay tuned to the next chapter – Our journey in Taiwan’s Vocal Asia 2016, the biggest and most well-known international Acappella festival and competition - A Rude Awakening.
Once again, if you do like a more personal touch to this chapter, mostly about how I feel in a less politically correct, you can listen to my podcast, “A little bit of the Ale”, on all platforms.
Thank you for taking some time to walk through the memory lane with me.
Love,
Alejandro