"Put on your pretty lies, you're in the city of wonder. Ain't gonna play nice, watch out you might just go under," sang Pitch Slapped, in its cover of Rihanna's "Disturbia," to a packed Salomon 101 last Saturday night. The group from Berklee College of Music won the Northeast quarterfinals in this year's International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, hosted by Brown's Higher Keys. Brown students, as well as friends and family of performers from Harvard, Boston University, New York University, Northeastern University and University of Maine, Orono, gathered to watch the five a cappella groups compete in the 14th annual competition. The first runners-up in the competition were the Opportunes of Harvard College, with the Maine Steiners of the University of Maine, Orono as second runners-up. The top two groups - Pitch Slapped and the Opportunes - will advance to the semifinal round of the Northeast region on March 21.The men and women of Pitch Slapped sang "Gravity" by Sara Bareilles and "Don't Stop the Music" by Rihanna, along with the crowd-pleasing "Disturbia." Cate Wright won the award for outstanding solo.The coed Opportunes, dressed all in black with suits for the men and dresses and heels for the women, sang "Lady Marmalade" and James Taylor's "Fire and Rain". "Fire and Rain" won the "outstanding arrangement" award of the night. The group also sang a medley of songs including parts of Michael Jackson's "Beat It" and "Smooth Criminal.""I was really proud of it," said Carolina Franch, a sophomore member of the Opportunes. "We're really pleased with how we did. There were a couple last-minute things we were tweaking, and it all turned out really well. 'Lady Marmalade' was good and we got some good laughs, which was good. We even got laughs for Michael Jackson, and normally we kind of just get 'awws'."The Steiners, who will not advance to semi-finals, sang a version of "Circle of Life" complete with monkey noises and intricate choreography - which included the occasional jazz hands - for which the group won the outstanding choreography award. Nathan Richard, the lead of the Steiners, said they had spent the majority of their time since January working on choreography.Other groups included the N'Harmonics of NYU, Suno - a South Asian and Western fusion a cappella group from BU - and The Nor'easters of Northeastern.Brown's Higher Keys did not participate in the competition but opened and closed the show. Their songs included "Owner of a Lonely Heart" by Yes and a Michael Jackson medley for which the group donned white gloves and Manjula Raman '11 moon-walked across the stage.Though the Higher Keys hosted the event last year as well, they have competed in previous years. Lorraine Fryer '09, a Higher Keys member, said she expects they will participate next year but added that participating in the ICCA would require a big time commitment on top of the six hours a week the group already practices.Some singers said competing can be an intense experience. "It's definitely stressful," said Danielle Larocque, a member of the Nor'easters. "There's, you know, extra time because it's encouraged that you add choreography. It's a lot of pressure, you want to make sure you choose the right songs to give yourselves the opportunity to do the best you can."Even as hosts, the Higher Keys had to prepare for the tournament."There was a lot of publicity because, you know, we want to give them a good audience to perform to," said Kayla Ringelheim '11.The audience seemed to appreciate the effort of the a cappella groups and joined in at times with clapping or cheering. Especially popular was the impromptu beat-boxing competition held while the judges deliberated.Nandan Nath '09 said his favorite group was the Opportunes. "Everything was great, arrangement and song choice, everything. They had the talent."Kara Kauffman '12 said, "The NYU second piece was amazing. They did a really long medley and we were blown away."
