Submitted by Kathleen Ware on
The Brisbane Convention Centre was pumping on Saturday night, 6th May, and there was plenty to celebrate. The awards for the Sweet Adelines Southern Cross Region 2023 competition had just been announced, and Circular Keys Chorus received its highest ever competition score – 622 points – placing it second overall. The winner was Endeavour Harmony, with a score of 649 points.
After months of preparation, rehearsing and planning, it was time for everyone to bling up, let their hair down and party hard. One CKC member’s Elvis-inspired gyrations were so exuberant that she managed to break both wrists on the dance floor and ‘leave the building’ in the company of two ambulance officers.
This year’s competition featured 23 choruses and 21 quartets from around Australia. CKC performed with a 35-member chorus, plus three quartets: Alouette, Kephi and Tango. All three quartets gave beautiful performances, and Alouette achieved the outstanding result of second place. The quartet winner was Skylark, with a sublime recital.
The full Convention program ran from Friday 5th May to Sunday 7th May. It began with a ‘mass sing’ on the banks of the Brisbane River, delighting the passing crowds with rousing barbershop renditions of various Australian songs. The Quartet competition took place on Friday afternoon and the Chorus competition on Saturday. Sunday was set aside for masterclasses, workshops and the closing ceremony.
Now that all of the regional results are in from around the world, CKC has discovered that it is one of the top ten second-place getters, making it eligible for a ‘wildcard’ entry in the 2024 Sweet Adelines International competition. This means that CKC could be off to Kansas City next year, once it has been invited to compete by the international committee.
Watch this space for more news on this exciting development!
Congratulations to all of the CKC members who worked so hard to achieve their best ever points score in this year’s national event. A huge congratulations too, to Master Director Vicki Dwyer, for bringing out the absolute best in her dedicated team of performers, and also for attaining her own second place with her quartet, Alouette.
