RUMORS QUARTET AND RICH-TONES CHORUS WIN QUEENS OF HARMONY AT THE SWEET ADELINE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION. MIKE HENSLEY, MEMBER OF THE SINGING PLAINSMEN, IS THE FATHER OF CHARLA CLARE....TENOR IN BOTH GROUPS!!!!!

Singing order - #10. Rumors - Division - #25
(Rich-Tone & Top of the Rock Choruses)

Charla Clare, tenor
Judy Baxter, lead
Dale Syverson, baritone (baritone Tiffanies -1973)
Peggy Barnes, bass (replacement bass for Ginger 'N Jazz - 1987)

Black gorgeous gowns with sheer sleeves and a black sequined bodice.

BALLIN' THE JACK- They do a pretty cute demo of the dance as they try to teach it. Then they do the whole thing doubletime and Dale tries the same demo but isn't quite up to the task! Dale steps up to the mic and starts to speak, but then pulls up her sleeve and checks her watch.... and decides not to say anything! The audience roars, showing their approval of the choice!

COME TAKE YOUR PLACE IN MY HEART - Beautiful! (Kira just melted in the seat next to me when hearing Peggy's gorgeous bass move in the tag.)

Then Charla got a solo feature called THE LADY DOWN THE HALL, and it was so beautiful. This is the only song lyric that really got to me this week. Absolutly lovely, and very well done!

Dale begins the next part by slowly taking on a "little girl" character as she explains that when she was a little girl she had a best friend (Zachwy Bowden's sister Bawbwa Bowden) who had a really neat doll which was pretty special! As she is telling us this, the other three are putting on pony tail wiglets, and other little girl's things, ending by putting a short orange pinafore on Dale.

PRETTY LITTLE DOLLY - I would try to tell you how this went, but I'm sure I can't do it justice. However the lyrics go something like this...(this is just bits and pieces) in her back you can turn a key... and she goes through puberty... If she talks back, give her Prozac... If you take her out in the sun she'll burn, and three days later she'll peel... She will cough and belch and sneeze. (Demonstrated by each of the other three. Charla's belch was classic!) "The pretty little dolly can talk, and if there's one lesson she has learned this year.....   (fast) ... is how to watch a clock and tell time!)

Kira is no longer melted in her seat. Now she's rolling on the floor as is most of the audience!! (for those of you who don't understand the joke, you must know that last year at International, Rumors lost this same contest because of a time penalty in the show package.) End of the Finals!!
[During the break I learned from Dale Syverson that at least a couple of those lines were supplied by none other than Debbie Connelly, lead of 1993 Queens Showtime, and no slouch with the parody pen. They had a good time working on that song!] Classic Edition performed while the judges were taking a break and the scores were being tallied. HARD HEARTED HANNAH BIRTH OF THE BLUES HOW HE MAKES ME FEEL - I love this song...   (the standing ovation leaves Susan visibly moved) "The most asked question this week has been, "How was your year?" We left SLC with a lot more stuff than we went with.... crowns, medals, trophies... In the airport as we were leaving, a gentleman observed the entourage of four ladies, all dressed alike and wearing medals, carrying the trophy and huge bouquets of roses and wearing CROWNS. He finally remarked, "obviously you've won something". YOU CAN GO THE DISTANCE An' when I go the distance, I'll be right where I belong. Neat song. Kira says it's from Hurcules Do you hear the beat? SOUTH RAMPART STREET PARADE In a few moments we ª_ l have brand new Queens, and the jury is still out (among the stands) as to whom that will be. Some say Swinglish Mix has a pretty good chance, and others feel there's no question that Rumors will leave with shiny hats tonight. Personally, I loved them all. This was the most incredible assemblage of barbershop talent I've seen in quite a while, and wonderfully entertaining! Each of the quartets is called back onto the stage in the order that they competed. Without delay, they begin the announcements.

Out of 3280 possible points:
10....2392 - Crescendo
9.....2408 - Blue Razzberry Rhythm
8.....2432 - Success Express
7.....2444 - Symmetry
6.....2448 - Acapella Gold
5.....2512 - Alliance (presented by Showtime)
4.....2588 - Night Magic (presented by chicago fire)
3.....2666 - Swinglish Mix
2.....2712 - Signature Sound
1.....2799 - RUMORS!!

Singing order - #3. RICH-TONES - From Richardson, TX, under the direction of Dale Syverson
FINAL PLACEMENT = 1ST with a score of 2805
Black pants with a shiny royal blue "cutaway" top, with tails nearly reaching the floor. The long black sleeves have multi colored long fringe hanging from the shoulders.

HIT THAT JIVE JACK - Snappy dancing by the front row with a lot of jitterbugging. The sound was supurb, but I guess I don ª² have to tell you that. Announcer: "When Mother used to put us to bed, she would sing us her favorite lullabye. She'd start out real slow, but pretty soon the whole house was ROCKING!

ROCK-A-BYE YOUR BABY - Great! A really snazzy bit of choreo, including the classic Al Jolson kneel. These gals dance as well as they sing!

PAL OF MY CRADLE DAYS- I heard this is a new Joni Bescos arrangement, and it ª± really powerful! The softness builds into a tremendous wall of energy, and then fades back to the softness with little apparent effort.

Dale: "I wanted to get a little advice on this next number, and so I thought I'd take it to my music team. This was probably a BIG mistake." "There are the liberals.. and the front row..they want to do all the fancy dancing and jazzy numbers." "The Conservatives want to do the oldies." Dale again: "I'm in the middle, a moderate from the midwest. Yo... I'm a baritone. And so we decided to compromise." Liberal: "We're going to do it MY way!"

TURN THE BEAT AROUND Turn it up.. Turn it up.. Turn it upside down. This looks like an aerobics class!

THE BEAT GOES ON - I've never heard this song done quite like this before! "Cher spends money stayin in her prime, and the beat goes on." ..."love to hear percussion!"

RUMORS comes back to entertain us while the scores are being tabulated.

MOONDANCE - as Judy started to get revved up in the jazzy part she got a "You go, girlfriend!" from Dale!

THE LADY DOWN THE HALL is (IMHO) the most beautiful song of the entire week. "The lady down the hall doesn't like to hear us fight... she only wants to know that everything's alright, and she's keeping an eye on us." Peggy :"Thank you... Charla's our secret weapon in more ways than one. We'd like to thank a few of our supporters.... and Believe me, when it comes to Rumors, it takes a village. (insert list of family, and a lot of other including Joe Liles, Keith Houts, Darlene Rogers, Sharon Babb, Michael Gellert, etc., etc.,) and one very special person to all of us... We finally got smart and hired ourselves a manager, Judy Winters, our O.C.O. - "Oh Cherished One!" The one thing we want to leave you with here today, is how tickled we are. You just can't imagine how wonderful it is!

Oh, no... NOT... The GLASSES. Yep, they put on The Glasses! They must be a half an inch thick and about as ugly as any you've ever seen. Dale can't see to read the pitchpipe, so Peggy gets in there, head to head, to "help." Eventually, they figure out which pitch to blow and they begin JEEPERS CREEPERS - It starts out very stilted, and straight, with choreographed moves that a wooden soldier could handle without a problem! Then, one by one, they take off the glasses and loosen up, ending with a swinging jazzy number that gets another rousing reception by the audience. ----

Karen returns to the stage and begins by offering us some statistics about the competition. We have had contestants from 27 regions. The largest chorus had 149 members. The smallest had 57 members. In addition, there have been 20687 Sweet Adelines crossing this stage.

As with the quartet contest, 3280 is the Magic number, and here are the results:
Tenth Presented by Jarmela Speta from the Racine Chorus (The First Int'l Champions)
10.   2559 - Bay Area Showcase Presented by Jan Muck, director of the Valley Forge Chorus
9.   2571 - Choralaires: Presented by Randy Loos, former Toast of Tampa Director:
8.   2621 - Toast of Tampa Presented by June Dale director of the North Metro Chorus
7.   2627   - Ramapo Valley Presented by Tom Gentil former director of Seven Hills Chorus:
6.   2649   - Houston Horizon Presented by Shirley Madison
5.   2673   - Pacific Sound Presented by Tori Postma and Laura Gliedman, director and president of the Mountain Jubilee Chorus.
4.   2695   - Ronninge Show Presented by Jo Kraut nd Linda Ackerman director and president of the Kansas City Chorus
3.   2720   - Scottsdale Presented by Kim Hulbert and Throa June, director and president of the San Diego Chorus
2.   2731   - City of Lakes Presented by Jim Arns and Susan Montgomery, director and president of the 1998 Champions, the Melodeers
1.   2805   - Rich Tones

The audience sings "Send Your Love" to the Rich-Tones as they are making their way to the stage, passing right in front of us. There is chaos on stage, but Karen says she doesn't have the heart to tell them to be quiet.

Dale: When we first won in Baltimore I practiced the words to say in accepting this. I was afraid to practice this time. The new blood is so exciting... First Timers, Raise your hands!" (they have 43 new members this year!) "I'd lke to thank Region 25, our families, who have helped us keep the harmony going. (snip) ...If youre a baritone I'm sure you long for melody around the house." Dale then begins to lists several coaches who have helped them along the way, among them Brian Beck who can "out 'left-brain' even Joni Bescos!" As Dale begins to sound a bit choked up, the chorus chants something we can't understand and she thanks them for it... and says we'll have to ask them about it later. (I did. see below.* ) "I know I'm forgetting a lot of people I should be mentioning ..."That's okay.. it'll all be in the next Pitch Pipe!" [BTW, This is the Rich-Tones' 3rd home run in three times "at bat"!]

In closing, the chorus gives us one more stirring performance of "Rock-a-bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody." Just before they start the song someone in the front row makes a comment to Dale, pointing towards Charla standing there in her long "Rumors" dress among the rest who are wearing pants. Dale turns to us, and tells us to "Watch right there, when they do the gymnastics near the end. That's where the action will be!" Sure enough when they get to the kneeling "Al Jolsen" bit, her dress gets caught up in the fancy footwork but she manages quite well, without losing her balance or missing the move. Then she deftly and delicately picks up her skirt as she rises to do the same move the second time! The audience instantly gives their approval of her quick solution! They might as well have put a spotlight on her, because no one missed it! Pretty classy recovery!

To close the session we all sing "Here's To The Winners!" and with that we come to the close of the official activities! It's been a great week! See you in Atlanta! ---

* This story goes back to a dog named Linky, that Dale Syverson had when she was a child. When she was away at camp, the dog died. Her family came to pick her up at camp and her little brother, about 4 years old and eager to share the news, came bounding up happily declaring, "Linky died! Linky died!"

Now, that's all it takes to keep her from crying when her emotions start to get the best of her. Apparently it worked! (thanks to the anonymous RT who shared this story for the benefit of the Harmonet!)

Debbie Warwick, reporting from the 1998 Sweet Adelines International Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, USA

(webmaster's note: Thank you Debbie, for making this web page possible!)

Our wonderful new International Champions, Rumors, were a wildcard quartet! Charla, the tenor, doesn't have a first place Regional medal!! Just a little more trivia! Sally Beck, Rhythmix Bari