CASA - The Contemporary A Capella Society

Sweet analysis, Deke.  I pretty much totally agree.  I do think that a group in preparation for a show like this faces a zillion tiny decisions, and you're always going to get some right and some wrong.  You never know how the audience is going to react, or the judges, or what the camera work is going to do (I would have moved quite a bit less if I'd have known there was going to be so many swoopy camera moves).  I think under the circumstances they made great decisions and did a fantastic job.

What I noticed:

1) 'pack up and move to Vegas' ... 'it's been so tough' ... 'then along comes AGT' ... no mention of years of touring, opening for George Wallace/Jay Leno for the several years, MTV Pop Group award....  This is not Mosaic's fault!  They are not mis-representing themselves; this is the producers all the way, coaching content to make it sound more interesting, more sympathetic.  Because _obviously_ America is not interested in a successful act!  Might blow their high fructose corn syrup-addled minds.

2) Nick Cannon's smile gives me the willies

3) I move that all a cappella groups boycott The Sing Off _unless_ they guarantee they will hire competent sound techs.  I don't literally mean boycott; I mean, it needs to become a very vocal issue with all groups going on these shows.  This performance reminded me exactly of Mosaic's MTV performances: you could tell the audience was digging it, and the sound was great in the venue.  The mix coming to the viewers was CRAP.  Simply, indisputably unacceptable.  If the NBC producers of the Sing Off want a good show, they must have 2 super-qualified live sound engineers, and 2 super-qualified broadcast engineers, and _SEPARATE LIVE AND BROADCAST MIXES_ so that the sound that goes to the viewing public is EXCELLENT.  Every person who auditions, every person who talks to the producers, BE SURE TO THIS UP WITH THE PRODUCERS.  If they hear it enough times, maybe they'll get it through their thick skulls.  And we as singers deserve to sound good, and ought to push for it.

4) I thought it was a great 90 seconds.  It was too rushed, but that's the nature of this kind of competition: it's not about art, it's about spectacle.  I agree with Sharon's comments, it was busy at the start, but I think I would have made the same/similar choices, based on the nature of the show.  

5) Bigger choreo, bigger movements than I'm used to seeing from Mosaic, and I liked it... if only the camera had stayed still long enough for us to enjoy it!  That big leg pop was great.

6) That 2-toned thing on Josh's head is ghastly.

7) I think Skinner got the emotional vote; I also think Mosaic might be _too_ polished, _too_ professional, and probably _too_ hip for the AGT audience.  I do think they, or a similar group, could be packaged and presented in a way that the AGT audience would dig, but _not_, unfortunately, in the current format of the show.

I've not been one to be shy about advancing my limited knowledge as an opinion on here.  Why stop now?

Deke's points were interesting to me.  Again, coming from the perspective of creating my first group from scratch, a lot of what goes down on here comes off as being food for thought for what I'm doing.  Sometimes too much food.  Indigestion.  I have to pass on a great deal of the wisdom that's emanating from this site because I simply don't have the stomach for it yet.  Maybe that's a point; Mosaic has been around for a decade so they're ready and it makes sense to them.  I can only digest 50% or less.

What was clear to me was the judges' reaction.  The live audience seemed clearly interested, and as Deke opined, were they the sole arbiters, I think Mosaic would likely be moving on.  Nick Cannon's reaction was effusive as well; I think either he's familiar with the genre, the way he was carrying on about a cappella, or a fan after.  But the 3 judges didn't know what to think or what to say.  They were aware that they heard something, but didn't seem able to put  anything of any relevance into words.

The Hoff says, they started "light" and got "better and better".  Since the song wasn't one giant crescendo, I have to assume this meant that he was bored in the first moments because the beat-boxing thing didn't grab him.  He realized by the end that what they put together was solid and there weren't any moments that distracted him from the performance so he had to conclude it was good, but still didn't understand it.  Sharon made the comment it was "too much" at the beginning, which is effectively the opposite of what David said.  It seems she prefers her a cappella to be something more like what a traditional choir does and didn't really appreciate the energy Mosaic was putting out or why.  Perhaps if they had chosen a slower chart with more legato blending...then she would have criticized them for not putting more energy into it instead.  Piers was complimentary about their voices, and their choices, but then made the comment that he didn't know if they could do a Vegas act without music (I assume he meant "instruments"; typical naive comment)....did he not hear what they just did?  First of all, there's a little group called Toxic Audio I saw in ads while I was in Vegas last year, so I'm pretty sure that the concept isn't foreign to the city and it's booking agents.  Secondly, the implication that they need to "think about this" almost makes it sound as if Mosaic should consider bringing in a few instruments if they want to go somewhere, or if they survived to the next round.  It's as if they can only be truly great vocalists if they surround themselves with the usual trappings of all the other singers out there and get away from what is making them different.

That makes me wonder: I'm not sure how singing with a backing track then is acceptable, but forgoing instruments to be replaced with voices is somehow taboo....except that it just doesn't fit the mold of what is accepted as appropriate.  I think it helps to remember that a lot of the industry has a copy of "Music for Dummies" on their coffee tables and only have a qualified opinion where someone else has already given it to them.  They're just trying to hitch their wagons to the next big copycat (because most weren't innovative enough to sign the original and instead walked them out the door).  Or maybe that's jaded.

The point is that the judges represent some of the prevailing responses and opinions of people who make the call about CAP and where it sits in the larger scene.  People who don't have a stake in the outcome seem to like it...even love it.  But the people who actually have to sign/book/judge the acts don't seem to understand that there are no instruments, and that's OK.  We make unconventional noises with our mouths and that's OK.  There is vocal complexity to what we're doing, and that's OK.

I have to believe that continued exposure to the form will help erode the expected and replace it with an appreciation of what we're doing.  Mosaic represented us very well and I applaud them.  We may never be the what the Grunge movment was to the '90s, but maybe a little larger than Hooked on Classics was in the 80s.  In that spirit...here's hoping for a successful season of NBC's The Sing Off!

it seems the Youtube video link is dead. Here's an alternative on Hulu for the performance:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/87344/americas-got-talent-mosaic

All 2011 Cars New