What happened to the good old days where choir competitions were the thing? There are literally little or no choir competitions at all. Back in the days, choir competitions were the norm in a community. Halls, yards and arena’s would be packed to the rafters to enjoy good music.
Now choir competitions are hardly a thing. Could it be that infamous line “we regret to inform you that, due to the current economic conditions…” blah blah blah that we cannot stage choir competitions anymore? Could it be a lack of funding or interest from the National Arts Council of Namibia? In many of my private dealings I have been made to understand that the corporate world is all about its numbers. If that’s the case than allow me to break it down to the marketing person reading this right now that is in charge of signing off on a sponsorship.
If you want numbers? Let’s talk choir. A choir has on average about ten to 25 people. A choir competition would have more or less five to ten choirs. Every choir has their group of sympathisers and fans. You sponsor a choir competition and your brand could reach about 250 people alone without considering the audience. With the audience, that number can reach at least 500 people. You are telling me you will pass on an opportunity for your brand to interact with at least 500 people? 500 real people if I may add because we have put so much faith in social marketing that we have forgotten the real aspect of it all!
I’m challenging the corporate world to get involved with the choral community. The choral community is a peaceful, disciplined and composed community. There might be a bit of a difference with the essence of the end product but since when has difference been a bad thing? We need those choir competitions back. Choir competitions that are not limited to a certain church but choir competitions that would appeal to the general public. Choir competitions that will unite the community in song and praise. Choir competitions that will unearth future superstars. I am a product of the choir community. Today I am one of the sought after MCs in the country! If the corporate world is really not forthcoming, I urge the community to stage choral nights. You literally don’t need anything for a choral night. You just show up and sing! Let’s stage choral nights, get the numbers and use them to convince the corporate world to finance a choir competition.
Good music is under siege, mense! Everything that was great for the soul and great for your general listening pleasure is being pushed aside for noise. We switch on the radio, is noise. We switch on the TV is noise. We go to a show, it’s noise. We have normalised nonsense and noisy music. I’d rather be at a choir competition in a hall/arena with a cup of soup this winter as opposed to some noise making show standing on cold a N$ grass waiting until kingdom comes for the show to start.
Until the next loop, we say “GMTM”!
NSK is a professional MC. For bookings, email naobebsekind@gmail.com
@naobebsekind (twitter)