SYF Results Announcer: "Hwa Chong Institution. (suspense.) Bronze."
The whole guitar ensemble sits stunned for something like 2 minutes. I feel a strange sense of calmness, then it all comes crashing down.
Its not that we played badly. On the other hand, I thought we played at 95% of our best standard. Which is super good. Neither was it due to institutional factors (ie. unforeseen circumstances), but due to the fault of the judges (and to think they call them adjudicators.)
1. Professional incompetency.
Only 1 of the 5 judges was a guitar player. They gave random comments like "You must not exaggerate dynamic contrasts" and "The bass notes were not as clear as those on the higher register". My favourite: "Many groups used tremolo. You shouldn't." (Hello, that's what the guitar is made for?)And to make matters worse, they demanded a "narrow focused sound [executed] within 1-2 milliseconds". Ms Wong says this is unachievable unless $10k guitars are used.
2. Poor acoustics.
The Republic Cultural Centre is a fantastic hall. No question about that. However, our wonderful judges chose to sit at the 2nd level. And the hall couldn't transmit lower-range notes to the 2nd level, since its more suited for vocals. Well most likely they heard a blur of bass notes (which comprise 40% of our ensemble) and didn't bother to think whether it was their problem. Oh, did I mention that the 2nd level was locked and out of bounds to everyone? Where did the transparency of judgement go to?
3. Lack of accountability.
The judges do NOT have to account for the results they give. We bore absolute faith with the SYF judging system, however we were sorely disappointed. No comments were given whatsoever, and appeals are apparently unheard of. Revealing actual scores? Not a chance.
4. Technical ineptitude.
K just before I get comments about how this is biased, I shall admit that we were technically and musically less adept than other schools, which were excellent. Cos we only practised for 4 months. (Oh, our previous conductor was rather, er, incapable.) But then of course everyone was screwed cos of factors 1 and 2.
VJC got silver, and all the groups after us got either silver/bronze. (except 1 gold the Chinese Orchestra song). And ACSI (JC) also got silver. Sounds funny? In total, there were 16 JCs. There was 1 GwH, 2 Golds, 6 Silvers, and 7 Bronzes. around there. disproportionate? You bet.
What can I say? We may have failed our expectations, but the judges failed us.
Just my humble opinion.
good luck to the other SYF groups.
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Yup, a rather interesting piece that reminds me so much of the GP lesson I just missed today to be there for the results. And I'm sure many of us sacrificed precious studying time to be there, or for practices etc.
There wasn't much I could say today...I was rather preoccupied with the candle-lighting. And I guess I was still shocked despite refusing to admit it. I do agree with Jess about the calmness part though...I felt particularly calm, looking around and trying to read others' expressions. But on hindsight, I don't think we could've performed any much better than we did...And I was particularly glad about one thing - we were all there being shocked and upset together. Yea, we're all in this together. XD It's rather heartwarming to see the club-bonding, and having watched everyone put in so much effort for this.
I'm sure many people have said many things about what went wrong today already. I'm sure we would have all witnessed what went right today. So, I hope all of you will leave the club with the happy memories and close friendships, and especially remember today as the day HCGC attained a bronze. If you see a guitar member upset, go up and give the person a hug! Because all of us deserve it. :D
Yup, we did well today. As the cake says, we rock
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