'Last' Versus 'Best'

I have always found choir competitions to be a slight contradiction in terms. Unlike, say, sports teams, members of choirs get together because they like to perform, and not because they are trying to beat another choir at singing. Indeed, if you are in a hockey team it would be rather pointless to train and not play against another team, whereas if you are in a choir you could go your entire singing career without ever 'winning' or 'losing' against another choir. It really is unnecessary. The Pink Singers are always singing with other choral groups, whether at our own concerts, at the invitation of others, or at festivals like Various Voices, and in such situations it is more collaborative than competitive.

So it is with some trepidation that I watched Last Choir Standing on the Beeb this and last week. The ostensible purpose of this show is to find the eponymous 'last choir standing', and I think they have done well to avoid the term 'best choir'. A cursory listen to the many choirs performing, from small jazz groups, to gospel choirs, to male voice choirs just goes to show how diverse choirs are, let alone their repertoire, and in the end, this contest really is a comparing apples to oranges, to pears, to bananas. You get the idea.

In any case, the decision is left to the three judges: Sharon Clarke, Russell Watson and Susan Digby. Of the three, the one who I really respect is Susan Digby. She says exactly what I am thinking, and has a good ear for pointing out where choirs can improve. Continuing the fruit analogy then, at this level of the competition you can tell how well formed an apple or orange is, but later on, when the competition gets to be about perfect apples versus perfect oranges, that's when the process of elimination is indubitably going to be highly subjective.

Last night the choir we are performing with on Sunday, the Brighton Gay Mens Chorus, were eliminated from the competition. They are dynamic, enthusiastic and look like really good fun. And they have a great assortment of facial hair patterns! Chorally, they were up against a number of excellent male voice choirs, so it would have been very tough for them were they to proceed further into the show. I'm really looking forward to singing with them - the Pink Singers are a very different choir from them and I think we will suit each other really well.