A room packed to the brim with students and teachers, bubbles and golden gumballs falling from the ceiling. With music circulating energy over audience members, this long-awaited day for Kingswood Oxford’s a capella groups finally arrived. On Saturday, April 25, KO a capella students traveled to Millbrook School for the annual Golden Lips a capella competition, an event filled with vicious competitors from other schools across multiple states.
The day started off with an hour and a half bus ride to Millbrook in New York. Senior Gordon Beck, a member of the Crimson 7 group, said that he really enjoys the lengthy trip because it’s a time when everyone can hang out and all talk together before performing. “It’s really such a fun experience,” Gordon said. “By the time we get there, everyone’s already excited.”
Arriving at Millbrook is an experience that you can’t forget. The scenic campus is almost entirely outdoors. Before the competition began, Oxfordians and Crimson 7 both walked around campus and went to the dining hall for a meal. They then headed over to the beautifully styled auditorium to sing. Singing on the stage, you could feel the audience all around you. “Three of the four sides of the audience seats are steep,” Gordon said. “So, you feel fully surrounded by other people.”
The competition began unusually in comparison to other competitions. In order to see who would go first, a four-sided die was thrown in the air. There were flowers being thrown everywhere, and the headmaster came out in a claw-like costume.
The Oxfordians sang “Thank You for the Music” and “Mama Mia” by the Swedish pop group ABBA. Sophomore Noa Taback mentioned the excitement of watching and performing for other groups. “There was so much choreography involved,” Noa said. “All of the groups were really excited, and the whole school came, so the atmosphere was really energetic.”
As far as scoring goes, the tournament featured a panel of judges. The criteria wasn’t entirely weighed the same: 40% was how good you sounded and how well your technique was executed, while the other 60% was the energy you brought and overall performance quality.
Crimson 7 excelled due to their performance. “We weren’t vocally perfect, “ Gordon said. “We win because of our energy and charisma. We get almost perfect scores every time from our energy.”
Students thought that the judges were just random audience members, but it was later revealed that they were actually Berklee a cappella singers. And, after a long day of competition, they performed had a performance for the spectators. “It was honestly such a crazy plot twist,” Gordon said. “It was kind of crazy performing in front of people from Berklee without knowing it.”
Crimson 7 ended up winning the competition and taking another trophy back to KO for a third year in a row. Throughout the bus ride back, you could feel the excitement of the day and energy throughout, despite the event being nearly eight hours long, ending at 10:30 pm.
Golden Lips was a huge success for both of KO’s a capella groups; between a day well-spent hanging out with friends, singing, watching other teams, winning a trophy, and eating celebratory Wendy’s, all involved had a great time. “It’s a long experience,” Gordon said. “But it’s really fun and a time where we all get to come together and sing.”
