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[14 December 2005] CPH choir wins Carol Fest 2005!!!

Congratulations to the College of Public Health choir for winning FIRST PLACE in this year's Carol Fest!!!!

Carol Fest is an inter-college choir competition in UP Manila (inter-organization in UP Diliman, I believe), held every December as part of UPM's Christmas celebration. Last year, our college's choir was last (but take note, nobody from this year's choir was part of that choir). Bleh.

Sopranos: Reg, Kris, Zai, Gazelle, Tricia (yours truly)
Altos: Sharon, Tal, Julie, Det, Amelie, Francine, Dr. Bertuso, Prof. Ramos, Ms. Florentino
Tenors: Kalvin, Gelo, Jeff
Basses: Heinz, Mark, Eric

We sang "Do You Hear What I Hear" for our choice piece and "Simbang Gabi" for the contest piece.

OMG, seriously, I still can't believe we won!

I mean, sure, we had our good practices, but we, in the choir, know how much horrible and terrible ones we also had. I wish I've seen the last 2 performances. It was also a good thing that the program started late. Kris' brother, Kuya Ivan, was our pianist, but he was still coming from Diliman before the contest. And our problem was that we were not able to practice with him yet, so even if he came just on time for our turn, we were not sure how it's going to turn out. But Kuya Ivan is an excellent sight reader!

Got shocked and awed when he first came to one of our practices, just browsed through the piece, then voila! Instant Simbang Gabi. So, we just had to trust him, and I sure am glad that we did

. Thank you, Kuya Ivan!!!

Amazing, really. We just had a week to learn the pieces, memorize the notes, the lyrics and the dynamics by mind and by heart. We even had a conflict with some of our batchmates because while we we practicing every afternoon after class, we left them working on our lantern for the Lantern Parade. Guys, we're really sorry... but hey, we won! And now, we're ready to help with the lantern, full-time

.

It's just too bad I wasn't there to rejoice with the rest of the choir who witnessed the announcement of winners. Sharon, Heinz and I left as soon as the College of Nursing choir finished their turn. The three of us, plus Gen and Lady, still had to prepare for our concert, held also last night, and had to go to Philam Life Auditorium as soon as possible. While Sir Nikos was saying something serious, Cristal called and told me the news, and I was restraining myself from screaming. I kind of jumped with excitement and let out a short squeal, which earned me a menacing look from Sir Nikos. LOL.

Congratulations again to our choir!!!