First Perfomances today!

We had our first performances today -- the first was at a library in a town not far from Cork called Bishopstown. There was actually a substantial crowd there for a 11 am performance. I was surprised at how well-received we were -- the audience was so gracious and interested. We also had a priest in the audience who is a UAB graduate, so that was kind of neat. The people here are all very friendly and don't mind chatting with us at all. In fact while talking with some audience members, we met a couple whose son lives in Cottondale and a lady whose brother lives in Selma. Small world, huh? Then we had an hour or so for lunch and we reconvened at the city hall where our next performance was. We got a personal greeting from the mayor of Cork in his chamber, which was really cool. We sang an Irish piece for him, which he loved (he liked us more than the Swedish choir that was there too). Then we went to the auditorium and performed for a large group, which erupted into thunderous applause when we finished. These people are serious about choir -- they get very excited about this competition --it's like watching the Iron Bowl to them. :-)
And now we're back at the hotel for some downtime/food/fun.

I think we are as ready as we'll ever be for the competition. Today was just a preliminary performance that doesn't count, but it definitely got us pumped up for Saturday. That Swedish choir that came to see the mayor with us was excellent. They had a great blend (granted, they were a lot smaller than us) and they were very precise. They sang right before us and it fueled our fire to do our best. I think we have the ability to win...we just have to sing how we know to sing though. They judge us down to .10 of a point, and even that much could lose it for us. A choir in this morning's category lost by .25 of a point. But if all goes as it has been for last performances, we should do well.

Make sure to check on Saturday to see the results!!

And by the way, please leave us a comment! We need all the well-wishers we can get, and I'm sure if you're a parent your child would love to hear from you! Wish us luck!