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A Cappella Only Festival
The A Cappella Blog is a proud supporters of this aca-event coming to San Diego this fall!
The A Cappella Blog is a proud supporters of this aca-event coming to San Diego this fall!
2016 was a great year for a collegiate a cappella. As the year comes to a close, it is time to salute ten truly extraordinary groups.
A few notes:
-Groups included in The Ten Can't-Miss American Collegiate A Cappella Groups of 2013, 2014, and 2015 were not eligible for inclusion in this year's list. It's not that those groups are any less exceptional this year, but I wanted to give ten different groups recognition. So, the following thirty groups were not considered this time around:
The AcaBelles
All-Night Yahtzee
Bare Naked Statues
Bathtub Dogs
The Beltones
Beyond Measure
The BluesTones
The Chordials
Eight Beat Measure
Faux Paz
Fundamentally Sound
The G-Men
The Hexachords
Men In Drag
The N'Harmonics
No Comment
The Octaves
The Octopodes
Pitch, Please!
State of Fifths
The Statesmen
The Vassar Devils
Vocal Point (Brigham Young University)
Vocal Point (University of Delaware)
-This list does not necessarily denote the best groups, so much as the ones that were most successful and noteworthy in 2016. The criteria for the list included (but was not necessarily limited to) accomplishments, public recognition, innovation, and quality of performance (live and recorded). Two other pieces of criteria that are least scientific, but unavoidable: my personal preferences and what I've been exposed to. I'm only one critic, and if I haven't heard your group, I welcome you to send me some YouTube links or a CD to help bring me up to speed
- This list only considers groups based in the United States of America. I simply don't have enough exposure to international groups at this time to fairly consider them in this context.
-I opted to limit this list to ten groups, which meant that many groups worthy of superlatives could not make it. I did want to acknowledge a handful of them with honorable mentions: Northeastern University Distilled Harmony, University of Pennsylvania Off the Beat, University of Massachusetts Amherst S#arp Attitude, The Florida State University Acaphiliacs.
Without further ado, I am very pleased to present, in no particular order, The Ten Can't-Miss American Collegiate A Cappella Groups of 2016.
I had heard The Originals prior to 2016, but I'd never heard them anything like I heard them in 2016 until they showed up on the ICCA Finals stage in New York, Champions of the Central region. There, they delivered an absolute stunner of an electronically tinged set that moved from Nick Jonas's "Levels" to a positively haunting, dystopian take on "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears. From there, the guys turned the set on its head with a heartbreakingly human take on Demi Lovato's "Stone Cold," featuring an incredible solo. The set was good enough for second place in the world (though I'm among those fans who would humbly suggest that they should have won the whole tournament).
The Originals were not done for 2016. Elsewhere in live performance, they were finalists for the fall SoJam scholastic competition. From there, just last month, they released their well-received EP, Void, featuring songs from their ICCA set. So, The Originals left 2016 wildly accomplished, and as a truly unique artistic success story performing unforgettable music, creatively arranged and staged, to arrive as one of the most irresistible acts singing in a cappella in 2016.
The a cappella scene in Florida is crowded, the number of top-tier groups positively swelling at this point. As such, Voicebox had escaped my attention until 2016.
In the year 2016, there was no ignoring Voicebox.
Voicebox won the ICCA South this year and made their debut on the Finals stage, where they immediately set themselves to the task of leaving an impression, starting with a spooky bit of "Come Little Children" from Hocus Pocus before exhibiting terrific restraint on a subdued imagining of Panic! At the Disco's "This Is Gospel," and nailing the audience with the big sound of "Victorious." And so, Voicebox was on the map on a national scale—a milestone they only built upon this fall, winning SoJam's scholastic competition. With this accomplishment the group has hinted at the most impressive piece of all—they may be even better in 2017.
The ScatterTones are one of those perennially great groups that a cappella can more or less assume will be great any time, any year they hear them. 2016 was a special year for the group in terms of range and expanse of accomplishment. They opened the year at the Los Angeles A Cappella Festival where they tore the house down with their live set and finished second in the prestigious scholastic competition.
In addition to succeeding live, The ScatterTones made their mark in recording, where their album Being Young encompassed so much of the group's best work from the preceding five years, and won Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards for Best Mixed Collegiate Album, Best Mixed Collegiate Solo for India Carney's performance on "Stop This Train," and were the top runner up for Best Mixed Collegiate Arrangement for Taylor Fugit's take on "No Woman No Cry."
Headed into the new year, The ScatterTones are on their way back into ICCA competition, the venue through which they achieved national acclaim earlier in the 2010s when they placed in back-to-back-to-back Finals. In 2017, they're certainly a group to watch for.
2016 saw all-female Divisi win their way to their third ICCA Finals berth. The first time they did it, their electric set and near-win inspired the Pitch Perfect book and by extension the film franchise. The next time was at the dawn of the ICCA Wild Card era. And here the group was in 2016, opening a new chapter triumphant in a new and ever-expanding region, the ICCA Northwest.
The group's set was a true stand out, moving from a jazzy slowed down take on Jet's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" to what was arguably the most emotionally vulnerable song of the whole tournament in a rendition of Sara Bareilles's "Manhattan." Divisi wrapped with powerhouse climax of Jetta's "Start a Riot," fully demonstrating the group's tremendous versatility to go with their musical precision. Word is that Divisi is also putting the finishing touches on an EP, expected to go public this month—don't sleep on it.
When a group makes it to the ICCA Finals stage in this day and age, there's little doubt they're great. But when a group takes the stage with the level of confidence—the sensuality and sheer bombast of Mosaic Whispers—you know you have something special.
Mosaic Whispers brought the house down at Finals with a memorable rendition of Santana's "Smooth" (including sample of Justin Timberlake's "Senorita"), the intensity of Sia's "Elastic Heart," and outright attacking the stage on Sohn's "Tremors," for an unforgettable performance. As if all of that weren't enough, Mosaic Whispers also performed live during CNN's coverage of the 2016 Presidential Debate at Washington University. That's right, they got face time on arguably the biggest news outlet in the US, ahead of one the most watched debates in US history. Pretty cool, and a fitting cap to an outstanding year.
The Los Angeles A Cappella Festival has become one of the brightest annual a cappella festivals in no small part because it happens so early in the year. Like many major festivals, it included a scholastic competition, and this year Acasola made a statement all the way back in January by taking first place at that show.
Acasola wrapped up the year little less impressively, with their annual No Snow Show, to benefit the local Guadalupe Community Center, stylishly themed this year around a "Hollywood Holiday." Acasola remains a group that pushes boundaries and works toward goals, harkening back to their earlier years when they bolted from inception to placing at the ultracompetitive ICCA West semis, and a few years ago when they scored on a spot on FOX's Raising Hope. In 2017, they're set to return to the ICCA tournament, and one can only expect great things from them.
Though the western United States has had a tendency to produce ICCA Champions this past decade, there's a proud tradition of collegiate a cappella excellence out of New England, and few groups honored that particular story better this year than The BosTones, the ICCA Northeast Champions who brought both polish and imagination to the ICCA Finals stage
From the lovely choral work to offset the power solo on Beyonce's "Déjà vu," to the expert staging on Adele's "I Miss You," to the wall of sound to close the set, The BosTones wowed the crowd in New York from end to end. In addition, The BosTones followed up that effort this fall, finishing second only to the vaunted Nor'easters in Boston's twentieth annual Faneuil Hall A Cappella Competition, not to mention successfully crowdfunding to record their new EP.
The Sils have a long history of success, and 2016 proved to be a particularly successful year for them in the realm of recorded a cappella as their album Luster, earned all manner of recognition in 2016.
The Sils made an excellent showing at the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards, top runners up in the categories of Best Female Collegiate Arrangement, Best Female Collegiate Song, and Best Female Collegiate Solo, and a big win for Best Female Collegiate Album. Besides that, the album scored an impressive composite score of 4.5/5.0 from The Recorded A Cappella Review Board, wherein critic Guang Ming Whitley commented of Luster that, "The tuning and blend are impeccable, the arrangements are solid, and the roster of talented soloists runs deep." Indeed, The Sil'hooettes are the kind of traditionally great group that remains steady and a joy to listen to year after year.
The ICCA West has been great for most of the tournament's existence, with groups like The SoCal VoCals, The ScatterTones, Vocal Point, Noteworthy, and Divisi posing regular threats to place at Finals if not win the championship. In 2016, the region bifurcated into the Northwest and Southwest, which opened an extra opportunity for a star group to rise out of the west—an all the more potent opportunity when a number of perennial contenders took the year off from ICCA. Soundcheck arose from this unique set of circumstances—fresh faces on the ICCA Finals stage, and group more than worthy of the west coast collegiate a cappella legacy at Finals.
The group thrived at Finals with an attitude-packed mashup of "Centuries" and "Bad Blood," before scaling things back for the soft harmonic beauty of Sam Smith's "Writing's on the Wall." They shut things down with a crowd-pleasing take on Christina Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man." wrapping a wonderfully entertaining, diverse set. Down the road, this fall Soundcheck celebrated its tenth anniversary, complete with alumni returning to campus to bring the house down one more time.
In 2016, Gold Vibrations exploded out of the ICCA Great Lakes region to make their debut at ICCA Finals. From the confidence and sass on Tori Kelly's "Expensive" to the stripped down take on Tove Lo's "Talking Body," to a rousing mashup of Pentatonix's "Cracked" and Nick Jonas's "Chains," the group was positively scintillating on the Finals stage
Speaking of the mashup of "Cracked" and "Chains," it not only worked live, but caught fire in the studio, earning Soundcheck a spot on the next Best of Collegiate A Cappella compilation. This combination of live and recorded success was hugely impressive, and one can only anticipate even more great things for Gold Vibrations as we look ahead to 2017.
20/20 A Cappella is a still-new all-male quintet based out of Ellensburg, Washington, and they just released their EP,titled, Cover Art. On listening to the album, I was struck by its bold overarching aesthetic. This is not an explosive album, or one that seeks to infuse rap or dubstep interludes, but rather a mature effort that comfortably situates itself in a mellow space of musical ease—soft, inviting, and a pleasure to listen to.
The group really hits its stride when the music is softest, sweetest, and most emotionally vulnerable. Their cover of Sam Smith's "Lay Me Down" comes across as completely earnest, built on brilliant harmonization. Similarly, Ed Sheeran's "I'm A Mess" proves to be a particularly bright spot, for starting on a simple clean solo over a stripped down track before the guys nicely complicated the instrumentation and arrived at a fuller sound.
Tracks like, Fall Out Boy's "Sugar, We're Going Down" and One Direction's "Story of My Life" similarly capitalize on the group's strengths, taking more raucous, upbeat numbers and adding a dimension of delicacy, even a twinge of sadness to what easily could have been less heart-felt work (besides featuring particularly good solo work).
The closing tracks, Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off," and before that, Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy." Each start on a slowed down, subdued, borderline jazzy take on the song. "Crazy" samples another song before returning to its slowed down groove, while "Shake It Off"—suitably, as the final track, final speeds into a more straightforward take on the original track. While I'd argue that these songs would be better off spaced out on the album so the originality of what the group is doing could stand out more in contrast to tracks doing other things, they're nonetheless very solid, innovative covers.
If I were to articulate just one complaint about Cover Art, it would have to be song selection. "I'll Cover You" from Rent was an odd pick, though arguably just dated enough to feel like a fun retro pick. "Crazy," "Sugar, We're Going Down," and Gavin Degraw's "I'm in Love With a Girl" all felt both dated and already quite over-exposed in a cappella circles, and thus strange picks for an EP released in 2016. I did appreciate the fresh takes the group had on these songs—as the album title calls attention to, literally creating art out of their cover songs, but I'd be interested to hear these guys apply their same creativity and sound fundamentals to some fresher material.
All in all, Cover Art is an easy, enjoyable listen by a skilled young group, with some nice production work from George Wiederkehr and there's little reason not to check it out given that the group is streaming the album for free on Spotify (though you can also pay what you like at Loudr, or a fixed price on iTunes).
2015 was a great year for a collegiate a cappella. As the year comes to a close, it is time to salute ten truly extraordinary groups.
A few notes that I urge you to read before you critique this list:
-Groups included in The Ten Can't-Miss American Collegiate A Cappella Groups of 2012, 2013, and 2014 were not eligible for inclusion in this year's list. It's not that those groups are any less exceptional this year, but I wanted to give ten different groups recognition. So, the following groups were not considered this time around:
The Accidentals
All-Night Yahtzee
Bare Naked Statues
Bathtub Dogs
The Beltones
Beyond Measure
The BluesTones
The Chordials
Eight Beat Measure
The G-Men
The Hexachords
Men In Drag
The N'Harmonics
No Comment
The Nor'easters
Out of the Blue
The Pennharmonics
The Scattertones
The SoCal Vocals
The Statesmen
Vocal Point (University of Delaware)
Voices in Your Head
-This list does not necessarily denote the best groups, so much as the ones that were most successful and noteworthy in 2015. The criteria for the list included (but was not necessarily limited to) accomplishments, public recognition, innovation, and quality of performance (live and recorded). Two other pieces of criteria that are least scientific, but unavoidable: my personal preferences and what I've been exposed to. I'm only one critic, and if I haven't heard your group, I welcome you to send me some YouTube links or a CD to help bring me up to speed.
- This list only considers groups based in the United States of America. I simply don't have enough exposure to international groups at this time to fairly consider them in this context.
-I opted to limit this list to ten groups, which meant that many groups worthy of superlatives could not make it. I did want to acknowledge a handful of them with honorable mentions: The University of North Carolina Loreleis, University of Pennsylvania Off the Beat, and The Yale University Whiffenpoofs.
Without further ado, I am very pleased to present, in no particular order, The Ten Can't-Miss American Collegiate A Cappella Groups of 2015.
Baylor University VirtuOSO This year marked my ninth consecutive trip to ICCA Finals. Over the years, I've had the pleasure of hearing performances from an array of impressive groups, representing diverse abilities, styles and aesthetics.
I'd never heard a group from Texas.
The ICCA South has, in my time, been dominated by groups out of Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee—and to be clear, these are some of my favorite groups. Just the same, I did speculate as to why the state where everything is bigger (and, heck, the state that essentially birthed Pentatonix!) seemed to have a less well-developed, or at least less represented collegiate a cappella scene.
I wonder no more.
2015 was the year when VirtuOSO, a less-well known group from a very well-known university broke through to the national spotlight, winning its way all the way to ICCA Finals, with a set featuring "Best Day of My Life," "Honeymoon Avenue," "I'm Not The Only One," and "Uptown Funk." Check that set list. All top forty hits. All songs that were arguably over-exposed in the a cappella world this year. And that's part of what I loved about VirtuOSO—a group that demonstrated a cappella need not be brooding or rooted in hipster music no one has heard of. On the contrary, VirtuOSO was infinitely accessible, fun to both listen to and watch on stage, and they nailed their fundamentals to deliver a rousing, irresistible set.
The Florida State University AcaBelles The AcaBelles have been at the fore of women's a cappella for the better part of a decade now, constantly pushing boundaries and asserting a powerful presence that dares anyone to claim all-female a cappella is boring. This year, it was the AcaBelles' studio work that earned them the most accolades, winning Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards for Best Female Collegiate Album for Rebel, and Best Female Collegiate Arrangement and Song for "Blue Ocean Floor."
On top of all of that, though, The AcaBelles asserted themselves on a national stage as one of just five groups to be featured on PopTV's Sing It On docu-series. Though The 'Belles were cut short in their ICCA journey this year, they proudly represented all-female groups around the country that have to work harder and be that much better to earn the same respect and audiences as their all-male and co-ed counterparts. Make no mistake about it, The AcaBelles continue to be a great a cappella group, and it was wonderful to see them further establish their notoriety on a national stage.
The Johns Hopkins University Octopodes From 2008 to 2014, I lived in Baltimore and had the pleasure of getting to see The Octopodes steadily evolve from a good group, to the kind of group that threatened to break the glass ceiling and explode into ICCA Finals on a perennial basis. Not only were they a great live group, though—they also established themselves as a recording powerhouse.
In 2014, The 'Podes unleashed The Kraken. It's an all-original album featuring a great group at the height of its powers, expertly produced via The Vocal Company, and though it was released in 2014, the album earned its just desserts in 2015, starting with a stellar review on The Recorded A Cappella Review Board, followed by big-time success when it came time for awards. The JHU crew picked up Contemporary A Cappella Awards for Best Original Song by a Scholastic Group, and tied for Best Mixed Collegiate Album—worthy praise for a special album that points a way forward for a cappella as more than a form in which groups perform and record as vocal cover bands, but rather a form in which fresh new music is happening.
Brigham Young University Vocal Point Vocal Point is perpetual success story in the a cappella world—one of a small handful of scholastic franchises that has remained elite for across roster overhauls and the passage of years, most famously thriving on The Sing-Off and winning two ICCA championships.
For 2015, in addition to continuing to offer up electric live performances, Vocal Point added to its legacy via recognition of their recording efforts. Spectrum dropped in the spring of 2014. In the 2015 Contemporary A Cappella Rewards, their work earned them the superlative of Best Male Collegiate Album—an honor hard-won over some tough competition. They followed up this effort with an inspired music video, in partnership with the All-American Boys Chorus, to "Homeward Bound."
Northeastern University Pitch, Please! Pitch, Please! can get lost in the shadow of schoolmates The Nor'easters, or high profile aca-presences that share the city of Boston, like Pitch Slapped. Therefore, it was great to see them get their share of the spotlight in 2015 when they arrived on one of the featured groups on PopTV's Sing It On, doing all-female a cappella proud in front of a national audience.
In addition to garnering exposure on TV, Pitch, Please! killed it live in 2015, with accomplishments including winning first runner-up honors at the Boston Sings (BOSS) A Cappella Festival, and picking up superlatives at that competition for Best Soloist and Most Powerful Message.
University of Maryland Faux Paz As I referenced earlier, during my six years living in Baltimore, I had the opportunity to see the a cappella scene grow in that region. Along with groups like The Octopodes, Faux Paz was one of the units that I had the opportunity to see evolve, change, and improve a period of years, and I was thrilled that I had the opportunity to see them again in 2015 when they won their way all the way to the ICCA Finals for the first time in thirteen years.
Faux Paz's finals set was dark, powerful, and mesmerizing—a true emotional tour de force that demonstrated unrelenting intensity from both an aural and visual perspective. In this performance, the group shored up its spot as not only the champions of the Mid-Atlantic region, but one of the elite college groups in the country.
Michigan State University State of Fifths Since its inception in 2013, the ICCA's Great Lakes region has steadily developed into one of the most intriguing of the tournament. While The G-Men have been the perennial regional champs, 2015 was the second consecutive year when State of Fifths were nipping at their heels as the top runners up for a spot at ICCA Finals.
Dramatic flair and very real emotion were key to a stellar showing for State of Fifths, a co-ed group we have reason to believe will only get better for years to come, and further cement their place as an ensemble everyone ought to be listening for.
The Vassar College Vassar Devils For those of us who watched Sing It On, a funny thing happened. The Nor'easters were not only one of the featured groups, but also one of the favorites—a group portrayed as heroes and likely winners. As such, The Vassar Devils, who stood out as one of the most formidable obstacles to a Nor'easter Finals bid, became something like villains.
The thing is, for those of us who caught the Vassar Devils live in 2015, it's hard to root against them. It's also hard to deny them recognition as one of the absolute best American collegiate a cappella groups of the year. The group sang with very real intensity, besides planning some of the most compelling visuals of the year. What's more, their set featured an original song, "Nothing," that helped the group stand out at every level of competition.
University of Wisconsin Fundamentally Sound Over the years, Fundamentally Sound has cultivated a well-earned reputation as one of the most consistently entertaining, engaging and, yes, fundamentally sound all-male groups singing out of the Midwest. The guys put these pieces together for another compelling ICCA run in 2015, which brought them just one place away from advancing to ICCA Finals.
Post-competition, Fundamentally Sound rounded out the 2014-2015 academic year with a National Treasure-themed show. That may be the perfect theme for this group of guys—a too-well kept secret on the national scene, but a real treasure to take in when they hit the stage.
The University of Richmond Octaves Nearly twenty-five years into Octaves history, the group added an important new accomplishment to its resume—their first Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award for Best Male Collegiate Song, in honor of their work on a cover of Miley Cyrus's "Wrecking Ball."
While all-male groups covering female pop artists isn't exactly novel in the 2010s (thanks, Lady Gaga), The Octaves' rendition of "Wrecking Ball," arranged by Tom Anderson and Jared Feinman, featured so many of the potential strengths of such a cross-gender re-imagining—a strong, straightforward solo; a brilliant falsetto bit around the three-minute mark; a phenomenal bass line; and a simply beautiful, full finish. With this song, and the accolades to follow, The Octaves shored up their spot, among the finest a cappella groups singing today.
Since Mike Scalise and I launched The A Cappella Blog in 2007, we have attended every International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella Final, live in New York. Today, one week before the launch of the 2015 tournament, and as I hope all of you have completed your entries to the 2015 ACB ICCA Bracket Contest, I'd like to take a look back at the last eight years of ICCA Champions—and what more fun way to do that than with a bracket all its own?
To start from a fairly objective point, I seeded the champions based on the number of points they earned from the judges for their championship-winning sets. In the event of ties, margin of victory over the top runner up came into play. Thus, the groups were seeded as follows.
1. The 2008 University of Southern California SoCal VoCals (454 points, 70 point margin of victory)
2. 2009 Mt. San Antonio College Fermata Nowhere (445 points, 79 point margin of victory)
3. The 2010 University of Southern California SoCal Vocals (445 points, 69 point margin of victory)
4. 2007 Brigham Young University Noteworthy (431 points, 59 point margin of victory)
5. 2014 Berklee College of Music Pitch Slapped (431 points, 48 point margin of victory)
6. The 2013 Northeastern University Nor'easters (415 points, 49 point margin of victory)
7. 2011 Berklee College of Music Pitch Slapped (403 points, 36 point margin of victory)
8. The 2012 University of Southern California SoCal VoCals (394 points, 7 point margin of victory)
Note: Each of the groups discussed in this article were great groups that put on tremendous sets. None of the content to follow is intended to diminish the accomplishment of these groups, but rather, to entertain you, the readers, and to celebrate a brief segment in the rich history of Varsity Vocals' ICCA Tournament. I'll be the first to admit the write ups and decisions below are very much subjective and welcome you to Tweet your own thoughts using #ICCABoC.
Without further ado, I present the first ever iteration of the ICCA Bracket of Champions.
Round 1
1. The 2008 SoCal VoCals vs. 8. The 2012 SoCal VoCals
Immediately, we get a clash of two generations of the same group. How do we separate the two when they stem from the same tradition? When they, conceivably, could have an overlapping member or two, or at minimum similar mentorship from alumni who saw the group through to the promised land?
For the purposes of this exercise, I'm pushing most of those questions to the sidelines and acting as though these were two completely separate performances from two completely different groups that just happen to have some overlapping tendencies.
The 2008 group racked up more points than any other champion at Finals in the last eight years. Along the way to Finals, the group earned the high score in the overall 2008 ICCA bracket, with a 463-point quarterfinal. I'm pleased to say that this was a group that lived up to the hype. Singing "Feeling Good" in the style of Michael Buble is all but a scholastic a cappella cliché nowadays, and I dare contend that the 2008 SoCal VoCals' opener was both the inspiration for this movement and the reason why no group should ever try it again—seven years later, I've heard over a dozen groups perform this same song, and not one of them touched the SoCal VoCal treatment, from its shimmering vocals to the positively jaw-droppingly original and dynamic choreo. They progressed to a choral treatment of "All the Things You Are" in which the crew demonstrated its fundamentals and its precision—singing as unit, blending perfectly, and using dynamics to build moments. Finally, the group closed on "Somebody to Love." Any other group probably would have been screwed choosing this song, after All-Night Yahtzee killed it directly before them. But this was the 2008 SoCal VoCals who rose to the occasion with a dynamite solo and a positively compelling group sound, guaranteeing that they would not be denied.
Fast forwarding to 2012, it should be noted that this was the first SoCal VoCals unit since 2008 not to win its semifinal, and the first Wild Card winner to go on to win the whole tournament. On one hand you can credit the heart of this group for not giving up, for tweaking its set, and for proving the doubters wrong when they won their third championship in three attempts. On the other hand, you can argue that this was the SoCal VoCals unit that, as great as they were, weren't quite as great as the ones to come before them.
And while I hesitate to call the 2012 group anything short of great, I do fall in the latter camp. The group opened with Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain," anchored by a stellar male solo. Next up was "Poison and Wine." Was "Poison and Wine" well put together, well sung, and compelling? No doubt. The trouble is that the group arranged, choreographed, and plotted this song as a spitting image of their 2010 rendition of "Crazy Ever After." Should we penalize a group for revisiting a concept that worked in the past? We can argue the point all day long—what I will say that as a long-time observer of the Finals, I could recognize the repetition and was disappointed that this group that had been so innovative and cutting edge in the past seemed to be pulling from its back catalog. The 2012 group ended with "Tightrope." The good news here is that they Oluwasegun Oluwadele very arguably turned in the single best solo in ICCA Finals history. The unfortunate side of that revelation is that this is a rare instance of a SoCal VoCal star outshining the rest of the group. That's not to say that the ensemble was poor in this instance, but it was difficult to remember them in the face of Oluwadele's iconic performance.
So, with all due respect to the 2012 crew, there's little question in my mind that the 2008 version of the SoCal VoCals put on the stronger set. They cruise to the second round of the bracket.
4. 2007 Noteworthy vs. 5. 2014 Pitch Slapped
We go from a matchup of two versions of the same group with so many similarities, to a clash of opposites.
In Noteworthy, we have the only all-female champions of the last eight years. A hungry, take-no-prisoners group that stormed the stage and, in the tradition of their on-campus siblings Vocal Point, and their west coast frenemies Divisi, demanded that the judges and audience take notice.
In Pitch Slapped we have a co-ed group making its third Finals appearance in five years, including one previous Championship win three years earlier. They swapped songs between each round of the tournament and performed with a breezy, free-wheeling, irresistible brand of charisma that darn-near had the audience dancing in the aisles.
To their credit, each of these groups thought differently. For Noteworthy, it was starting out their set with the screams of Bulgarian folk music, singing a hymn, and stitching the bombast of "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing" and "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" in between to positively throw down in the face of more traditional acts. For Pitch Slapped, "Radio Song," "Ain't It Fun," and "Come On Over (All I Want Is You)" set a party tone uncommon to the gravitas of the ICCA Finals, all the more special for the group executing these songs with their signature musical precision. "Take Back the Night" and "Say Something" added a wisp of weight to the middle of the set, but these numbers were woven together and clipped to keep them relatively light.
There's a temptation to reward Pitch Slapped for offering one of the best relatively light-hearted Finals sets in recent memory. However, I have to maintain my original assessment from last April. That, in 2014, Pitch Slapped may well have been the single greatest collegiate a cappella group in the world—but they didn't assemble the greatest set. For me, Noteworthy broke more ground in 2007. They made good on Divisi's 2005 Finals promise, and set the table for groups like The AcaBelles go to war in the years to follow. Thus, I have to give Noteworthy the nod coming out of the first round.
2. 2009 Fermata Nowhere vs. 7. 2011 Pitch Slapped
This match up has some of the trappings of the Noteworthy-Pitch Slapped matchup I just described, but also some pretty stark differences. In this scenario, Fermata Nowhere plays the role of raw, hungry group without any trepidation about thinking outside the box. Pitch Slapped has the same arsenal of superstar soloists and musical acumen that comes with a Berklee education; all that and the group boasted a record of finishing top runners up in the previous year's ICCA Tournament and appearing on The Sing-Off the preceding fall.
All that said, 2011 Pitch Slapped had its share of differences from 2014 Pitch Slapped. This was a group that, for all its acclaim had not yet garnered an ICCA crown. Enter all of the urgency and desperation to win that I felt was missing from their 2014 run, and you have the kind of group that, no one wants to compete against, but everyone wants to hear live. Pitch Slapped came to play with a super fun take on "The Other Side" that featured an excellent rap breakdown, followed by an emotional and earnest rendering of "Because of You," before the group brought the house down with "Takin' It to the Streets." This was Pitch Slapped blending edginess with musical precision for a simply sensational result.
And then there's Fermata Nowhere. The group featured a positively killer rhythm section, including young Avi Kaplan (who has gone on to even greater success with Pentatonix), and palpable energy as they exploded on stage with a monster sound and choreography that included cartwheels and constant motion. They opened with a powerfully unique sound on "Maghalena" before exposing their souls on Secondhand Serande's "Fall For You." And then there was a closer. To be frank, I don't know that I've ever heard a group incorporate high-octane choreo and comedy this aggressively, and still turn in such a musically sound and compelling final song, as they developed a medley from "Heartless," "Disturbia," and "Single Ladies."
2011 Pitch Slapped vs. 2009 Fermata Nowhere ended up as one of the most difficult matchups for me to pick—so different that they defied comparisons, each so driven that it's hard to deny either one this early in the bracket. In the end, I'm giving Pitch Slapped the duke by a hair for a bit more polish and precision on their end.
3. The 2010 SoCal VoCals vs. 6. The 2013 Nor'easters
We close out the first round with another humdinger of a pairing. It's one of the most polished sets in ICCA history versus one of the greatest stories in ICCA history. The return of the kings and queens of the ICCAs up against the uncrowned champions striving for their first tournament win.
In 2008, The SoCal VoCals established themselves as undeniable champions. When they returned to the tournament two years later, they went from the hunters to the hunted—a group that suddenly had not only championship aspirations but expectations to be exceptional. And holy guacamole, did they deliver?! They kicked of the with bold choice of a jazzy take on "God Bless the Child." They followed up with one of their most iconic performances of all time—boasting a cast of rotating soloists for "Crazy Ever After." It's hard to describe just how good that middle song was, not just for highlighting the depth of the group's solo talent, but also for remaining so musically seamless despite people trading out parts constantly. They closed with Stevie Wonder's "Living for the City"—a marvel of a party song that was positively infectious and had the crowd applauding well before the group even finished the song.
Fast forward to 2013, and you have The Nor'easters. The Boston-based group traveled to New York for finals beneath the shroud of the Boston Marathon bombing tragedy—an event that not only rocked the group emotionally, but actually threatened their presence at the tournament when their bus and a variety of other transportation options were shut down. Fortunately, the group scrambled to find car rides and make their way to the Big Apple to take their shot at ICCA Championship glory, after coming one place shy of Finals the previous two years. And boy am I glad they made it. With a positively killer bass sound and VP, out of this world soloists, and some of the most creative arrangements I've ever heard on the Finals stage, The Nor'easters captivated the New York crowd via "Drumming Song," "Wrong Side of a Love Song," and a haunting reinvention of "Diamonds." And then there was "Don't You Worry Child," which the group somehow transformed into an anthem of hope, culminating in the single most emotional song I've ever heard a cappella, anywhere, anytime.
This is another matchup that's nearly impossible to pick. Could I deny the lightning in a bottle that the SoCal VoCals managed to harness for a second time, in favor of the scrappy crew from Boston that brought a ridiculous proportion of the New York crowd to tears?
Yes, I could. And I did.
Round 2
1. The 2008 SoCal VoCals vs. 4. 2007 Noteworthy
2007 and 2008 gave us two very different Finals shows. In 2007—my very first time attending the big dance live—the competition was exceptionally tight and exceptionally diverse, with top contenders including a rambunctious Binghamton Crosbys power group, a quirkily old fashioned and comedic leaning Rocktavo, the out of this world energy of the Zumbyes, a crazy talented version of All-Night Yahtzee, and, of course, the tournament champs, Noteworthy. While 2008 boasted its share of worthy finalists and I don't mean to disrespect any of them, the competition began and ended with The SoCal VoCals—not so much an a cappella group as it was a machine designed to win a cappella competitions.
So, I can understand an impulse to sell the SoCal VoCals short for not having to duke it out against such tight competition en route to the Championship. The thing is that the kids from USC were so good, I dare say they would not only have dominated in 2008, but in just about any other year they might have competed.
These two groups each executed wonderfully diverse sets. I don't know that any champion has demonstrated greater pure fire than Noteworthy. Just the same, they happen to be up against the single most polished champs I've ever heard, and I can't help but push the SoCal VoCals on to Finals of all Finals.
7. 2011 Pitch Slapped vs. 6. The 2013 Nor'easters
Things just do not get any easier to pick in the final four round of this bracket. Here, we have two of the all-time great ICCA Northeast groups squaring off. Each of these groups celebrated emotional wins—Pitch Slapped for culminating a lengthy journey to arrive at the top of the aca world; The Nor'easters having walked a long road themselves and withstanding the added drama in 2013 of making it to New York in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing.
Putting human interest stories aside, these were two very talented a cappella groups, putting on two genuinely special sets. Pitch Slapped served up a set that was not only musically expert, but shrewdly designed to cater to the Finals stage with a hot opener, an emotional ballad in the middle, and a barn burning closer. The Nor'easters, to the contrary, came to New York with a set that defied convention—four songs long, defined by non-stop intensity.
It's hard to leave either one of these groups behind in the bracket, but only one can move on. If you're a long-time follower of The A Cappella Blog, it may not surprise you to learn that, when all other things are equal, I tend to back groups that attack the stage with more vigor and that achieve greatness through superior creativity. On each of these counts, I have to give the edge to The Nor'easters, and send them all the way to the final round.
Round 3
1. The 2008 SoCal VoCals vs. 6. The 2013 Nor'easters
And so we arrive at our final showdown. East coast versus west coast rivalries aren't just for the rap world—they come to a head in a cappella as well, particularly at the highest levels of competition. In the last five years of the ICCAs, only two regions have been represented among the champions, and only two regions have been represented among the first runners up—the West and the Northeast. (And for the three years before that, a group from the West won the tournament every single time.)
In the 2008 SoCal VoCals and 2013 Nor'easters, we have two of the greatest stories in a cappella history.
The SoCal VoCals spent years cultivating their talents, planning, preparing, and researching before they arrived at the winning formula to finally break the glass ceiling and make it to ICCA Finals. When that time came, they would not be denied their championship. The 2008 Championship marked less of a culmination than a launching point, though. The SoCal VoCals won championships again the next two times they tried, and are poised to give another shot in 2015. Spinoff groups The SoCals and The Backbeats made major waves on The Sing-Off (in addition to one-time VoCal Scott Hoying fronting Pentatonix). Indeed The SoCal VoCals are on a shortlist alongside The Beelzebubs, Whiffenpoofs, and On the Rocks for best-known collegiate groups in not only a cappella circles, but the world-over.
The Nor'easters may not have become household names in the immediate aftermath of their championship win—but they may become so as they remain ICCA Championship contenders, CARA winners, and have been one of the first groups announced to be featured on the upcoming Sing It On ICCA-centered television series.
But for the purposes of this bracket, we're looking less at legacy more at twenty-four minutes of immortality—two of very best twelve-minute ICCA sets I've ever heard. The Nor'easters darn near burst with emotions on a set that built to "Don't You Worry A Child"—a pedestrian top 40 hit that the group fundamentally transformed into a song of recovery, hope, and empowerment, not to mention a masterful piece of music. For The SoCal VoCals, the moment that will always stick with me is "Feelin' Good" soloist David Rakita exploding from the back of two lines of VoCals to pop at the front of the stage in the perfect pairing of image and sound—the apotheosis of a cappella.
Goodness, this one is hard to pick. But push comes to shove, I can't pick against my choice for greatest ICCA set of all-time. All hail the kings and queens of collegiate a cappella: The 2008 SoCal VoCals.
2014 was a heck of a year for a collegiate a cappella. As we reflect on the time past, it is time to salute ten truly extraordinary groups.
A few notes that I urge you to read before you critique this list:
-Groups included in The Ten Can't-Miss American Collegiate A Cappella Groups of 2012 and 2013, and The Top 10 American Collegiate A Cappella Groups of 2011 list were not eligible for inclusion in this year's list. It's not that those groups are any less exceptional this year, but I wanted to give ten different groups recognition. So, the following groups were not considered this time around:
The AcaBelles
The Accidentals
Bathtub Dogs
The Beelzebubs
The Chordials
The Dartmouth Aires
Eight Beat Measure
The G-Men
The Melodores
No Comment
The Nor'easters
On the Rocks
Out of the Blue
The Pennharmonics
Pitch Slapped
The Scattertones
The SoCal Vocals
The Stereotypes
Vocal Point
Voices in Your Head
The Yellow Jackets
(For those asking, I am considering rotating groups back in for eligibility after four years have passed since their most recent inclusion.)
-This list does not necessarily denote the best groups, so much as the ones that were most successful and noteworthy in 2014. The criteria for the list included (but was not necessarily limited to) accomplishments, public recognition, innovation, and quality of performance (live and recorded). Two other pieces of criteria that are least scientific, but unavoidable: my personal preferences and what I've been exposed to. I'm only one critic, and if I haven't heard your group, I welcome you to send me some YouTube links or a CD to help bring me up to speed.
- This list only considers groups based in the United States of America. I simply don't have enough exposure to international groups at this time to fairly consider them in this context.
-I opted to limit this list to ten groups. Which meant that many groups worthy of superlatives could not make it. I did want to acknowledge a handful of them with honorable mentions: Michigan State State of Fifths, Rutgers University Casual Harmony, The Missouri State University Beartones, The Johns Hopkins University Octopodes, Cornell University Last Call, The University of Richmond Octaves, and Duke University Out of the Blue.
Without further ado, I am very pleased to present, in no particular order, The Ten Can't-Miss American Collegiate A Cappella Groups of 2014.
University of Delaware Vocal Point I first saw Vocal Point perform in 2007, at one of the first ICCA shows I ever reviewed. I distinctly remembered them as good but not great—a group with some star soloists and good fundamentals that was missing a certain X-factor that would elevate them to elite status.
Each time I've seen Vocal Point since has demonstrated progress, but I don't think that anything prepared me for their performance at the ICCA South Quarterfinal at Johns Hopkins University. The group stormed the stage with a fiery set that included a ripping take on "I Had Me a Girl," a soft and tender handling of "Dark Side," and a positively electric cover of "My Songs Know What You Did In the Dark (Light 'Em Up)." The group rightfully took home first place in Baltimore and moved on to win their first ICCA South regional title.
All of that probably would have been enough to call it a banner year for Vocal Point, but the group then proceeded to finish third place in the world at the International Finals (picking up Outstanding Arrangement and Choreography superlatives along the way), and then capped their scholastic year by returning the next day for a show on their home campus at which they released their vaunted new album, Momentum. As a cherry on top of one heck of an aca-sundae, Momentum's "Wrecking Ball" scored the group a spot on Varsity Vocals' Best of Collegiate A Cappella compilation.
University of Chicago Men in Drag Chicago is an underappreciated collegiate a cappella hot spot, featuring top tier groups from Northwestern University and The University of Chicago. The latter school underwent a revolution when Voices in Your Head exploded on the national scene in 2012, winning the college competition at BOSS, and turning heads with an innovative set at the ICCA Finals. And then there was Men in Drag.
When I first heard of Men in Drag, I was confused. Was it an all-male group? A drag group? The answers were a definitive no, and a sometimes, as it turned out to be an all-female group established to question gender stereotypes—particularly the myth of the meek all-female a cappella ensemble. The group's history reaches back to the late 1990s, but in the 2010s they have made their own bid for national notoriety via strong outings in the ICCAs and on the a cappella festival scene. Moving past live efforts, though, 2014 saw Men in Drag distinguish themselves all the more clearly for their accomplishments in recording. Their cover of "Coming Undone" dominated the all-female collegiate CARAs, taking home superlatives for Best Female Collegiate Song and Best Female Collegiate Arrangement, in addition top runner up honors for Best Female Collegiate Solo.
Florida State University All-Night Yahtzee Speaking of a cappella hot beds, Florida State University has the distinction of having sent no fewer than three different a cappella groups all the way to ICCA Finals over the last decade. All-Night Yahtzee didn't punch its ticket to New York this year, but did have a remarkable year in competition—winning its ICCA Quarterfinal (plus Oustanding Arrangement and Vocal Percussion honors) and going on to place in a super-competitive ICCA South Semifinal (where they, again, were recognized for Outstanding Arrangement). In addition to their ICCA run, All-Night Yahtzee finished second only to their sibling group, The AcaBelles, at this year's SoJam competition. In the process, the co-ed crew picked up the superlative for Best Execution of the Theme.
As the years go by, it's getting harder and harder not to expect big things out of the Florida State a cappella scene. All-Night Yahtzee is a huge part of that vibrant community.
The New York University N'Harmonics In 2014, no a cappella group in the world sounded quite like The N'Harmonics.
That's not to say that The N'Harmonics were the best group singing this year (though you could argue that), but they were undeniably unique. From their distinctive ICCA song selection—Laura Mvula's "Green Garden," The Dirty Projectors' "Stillness is the Move," and Yes's "Roundabout," to unforgettable soloist Kiah Victoria, to wild dance moves, to the breathy backup singers on "Stillness," to taking their tuning notes from a frigging melodica, The N'Harmonics, like great artists in so many fields, thought differently. Folks who have read my event or CD reviews know how much I like to harp on the importance of each group establishing its own, distinctive identity. In 2014, I don't know that any group had a better or more uniquely defined personality than this one.
The James Madison University BluesTones As more and more groups throw their hats in the ring, the world of recorded a cappella has become increasingly competitive. Amidst a deep field, the women of The BluesTones teamed up with James Gammon Productions to put together a knockout of a studio album in Do Not Cross. Their efforts resulted in an excellent recording that justly earned Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award recognition in the form of winning Best Female Collegiate Album honors, taking home the Best Country Song superlative for their cover of The Band Perry's "Better Dig Two," and winning Best Female Collegiate Soloist for Nina Beaulieu's performance on "Lie to Me" (originally by Sara Bareilles).
In addition to taking top honors in the aforementioned categories, they earned top runner up nods for Best Female Collegiate Arrangement and Best Female Collegiate Song, each for "Lie To Me." Each of these bits of recognition confirmed what the group's fans have known for quite some time—that they are one of the elite all-female a cappella groups singing today.
Brigham Young University Beyond Measure The Brigham Young University campus is no stranger to great a cappella, boasting Vocal Point and Noteworthy, an all-male and an all-female group that each have at least one ICCA Championship and a Sing-Off run to their names. And then there's Beyond Measure.
This co-ed group first took shape in the fall of 2013, focused on their religion and espousing a mission of service. By the end of that academic year they had finished second at the ICCA West Semifinals—just one place shy of a trip to New York for Finals, picking up Outstanding Vocal Percussion honors at both their tournament quarter- and semifinals. With a dynamite freshman year under their belt, Beyond Measure has quickly established itself as a top-tier new group to watch for in the years ahead.
The St. Louis University Bare Naked Statues When I look back on the 2014 ICCA Finals, I'll remember it for being a diverse show. A show that started with emotionally intense offerings from The G-Men and ScatterTones. A show that turned on its head with a free-wheeling showcase on the part of eventual champions Pitch Slapped, that included a coming out party of epic proportions for Vocal Point, and that saw The N'Harmonics unleash a unique set in their utterly inimitable style. And when I think of The Bare Naked Statues—I'll smile.
The ICCA Midwest Champions took the stage last and proceeded to open their set with an ultra-choreographed, crisp, and fundamentally fun cover of Little Feat's "Let It Roll," which gave way to a choral reinvention of "When You Were Young," before the guys brought the house down with Beyonce's "Crazy in Love."
Over the top choreography and playing for laughs are each gambles at the upper echelon of competition. You run the risk of losing your musical precision in favor of entertainment, or even if your mechanics are on point, there's the chance the judges won't take you seriously. But The Bare Naked Statues reinforced everything that is good about an up-tempo, high-entertainment a cappella, bringing the night to an uproarious and unforgettable conclusion.
The Penn State Statesmen The Statesmen only got started in 2011, but have wasted no time establishing an identity on the national scene. In 2012 and 2013 they made excellent showings for themselves in the ICCA tournament, finishing as high as first runners up at the semifinal level. From there, they've scored some pretty high profile gigs, not the least of which was a 2013 visit to The Today Show on NBC.
2014 proved to be another banner year for the guys from Penn State—this time around, thriving in the world of recorded a cappella. Their creatively titled, The Album earned them a CARA win for Best Male Collegiate Solo on "Breathe Again," and runner up for Best Male Collegiate Arrangement on "Higher." "Breathe Again" also won over listeners at Varsity Vocals, and landed the guys on the Best of Collegiate A Cappella compilation. On top of all of that, they went viral this spring, when they sung a love song medley that culminated in group member Ben Mays proposing to his girlfriend live on stage.
The UMass Amherst Hexachords With just six voices, The Hexachords have proven themselves as one of the most exciting new a cappella groups of recent years. Among their accomplishments—in 2014, for the second straight year, they finished in second place in the ultra-competitive ICCA Northeast bracket. This is especially impressive when you consider that the last two first place winners from that region—The Nor'easters and Pitch Slapped—went on to win the championship at International Finals.
2014 also saw The Hexachords release their debut EP, after a successful Kickstarter campaign. With successes in live performance and recording under their belts, the future looks very bright for this group.
Yale University a.Squared a.Squared was one of the most ambitious new college groups of 2014, espousing a focus on electronic music, and particularly the usage of Ableton Live software that allows them loop their music in live performance.
The pay off? Having the opportunity introduce not just themselves, but an exciting, offbeat brand of a cappella to the entire country next week when The Sing-Off returns and a.Squared joins The Melodores as the only two collegiate groups in this incarnation of the show. Like so many of us, I can't wait to hear what they bring to the show.


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Women Create Wool Handicrafts
Women of the Altyn Oimok Craft Shop in the village of Bokonbaevo, Kyrgyzstan, work together to hand stitch high quality handicrafts. They then sell the crafts through a company in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan's capital. After a receiving a grant in 2010, jointly implemented by the UN Women and the Kumtor Operating Company, the shop was able to increase its output and hire more staff members from the local community.
Photo Credit: UN Women/David Snyder
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Taken on October 5, 2011

subset: commoncrawl


text: My home button won't work anymore. My screen lock or lock pattern won't show up anymore. My track pad is no longer working. And my speaker/microphone are both sounding distorted. Is there anyway to fix this? And all the settings are turned on. I'm not a total dumbass. BTW thanks in advance for any help given.


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THREE Cambodian farmers from the same family died after their truck hit an old anti-tank mine left over from decades of civil war in the country, police said on Monday.
Two other relatives were seriously injured in the blast in northwest Battambang province on Sunday, said local military police chief Eng Seng Oeun.
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Originally published as Cambodian anti-tank mine kills three


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: Pioneering composer Amy Beach
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4 hrs per week core commitment
- Organisation of regional leagues
- Signposting of regional opportunities
- Gathering of local participation levels
- Liaison with National Coordinator
- Liaison with Local activators
- Other regional duties and opportunities, as appropriate
Free access to Coach, Referee or Administrator Workshops
Free coach education within chosen pathway
Invites to Regional/National In-service + CPD opportunities
Free SFA and SSS Kit
Personal Development fee of up to £500
Employer Reference
SFA/ SSS promo material
Invitations to other football related opportunities on a performance related basis
Applicants need to apply via http://tinyurl.com/pxbngz3
Minimum Requirements:
Enrolled in further or higher education institution in Scotland
Available for min. of 4 hrs per week during the academic year
Candidates to be appointed subject to disclosure as appropriate
Key Dates
Application: Fri 30th June
Assessment: Week beginning 22nd July
Induction & Start:August/Sept 2013
Ross Simpson
Sports Coordinator
Scottish Student Sport
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0131 650 9654


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Justice Kudirat Jose of Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja was, yesterday, told how a commercial driver, Ajayi Gbadegesin, 40, had sexual intercourse with his daughter for 18 months.
Led in evidence by the state prosecutor, Mr. Babatunde Oguntemowo, an importer of laboratory and scientific equipment, Babatope Adamolekun, said: "On May 12, 2014, at about 8a.m, on my way to work at Bello Bus Stop, Iju, Lagos, I saw a 10-year-old girl (name withheld) begging a woman for money.
"I asked her why she was not in school and the victim narrated to me that she lost her mother, was staying with her step-mother in Agege, a suburb of Lagos and needed money to go back.
"She added that her father had been having sex with her for more than one and half years and that she almost died from the previous night's experience, as her father had sex with her more than three times."
The witness further told the court that when he asked the girl of her father's whereabouts, she told him that her father's commercial bus was parked a few meters away from the bus stop and that he had gone to get fuel.
Adamolekun told the court that with the help of four other people, they forced the victim's father to the police station in a tricycle.
He added: "On getting to Red House Police Station at Iju Ishaga in Agege, I told the police what happened and they assigned a female officer to take the girl to hospital for test and treatment.
"I assisted them with N7,500 that evening when I was showed the result from the hospital that confirmed that her father had sex with her. The DPO, Ajimote, directed them to charge the matter to court immediately after seeing the report."
The next morning, Gbadegesin admitted having sex with his daughter, saying it was the devil's work.
The witness continued: "Then we chartered a vehicle to Abule-Egba Magistrate's Court, where I was called as a witness, and the Magistrate ordered that the girl be taken to Idi-Araba for rehabilitation, while her father was remanded in Kirikiri Prison."
Justice Jose adjourned the matter till October 6 for continuation of trial.
10-Year-Old Girl shares chilling story of how her Father almost killed her with sex
6 comments:
- Unque Bee10 June 2016 at 12:31
End time thingReplyDelete
- Anonymous10 June 2016 at 13:57
Kemi, please don't just report this impersonally. You have the power of the pen, and can do a lot of good.ReplyDelete
This girl has no mum, now about to loose her evil father. How is she feeling in Idi Araba? Can you ask for NGOs agains sexual abuse to go and see to her welfare?
Please do more for this girl, a lot of the other stories, the children have advocates. Please someone, intervene for this girl. Next her father would be released and come to take her, no one would remember
- Anonymous10 June 2016 at 15:23
Why can't devil push him to go and slap army officer,baba radaradaReplyDelete
Beast of a father!ReplyDelete
i think he deserves to die!!!!ReplyDelete
God have mercy!ReplyDelete
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If you thought Hilary Duff through in the towel on her music career, think again.
Duff used to appear in RCA's roster of artists, but fans noticed in recent months she's nowhere to be found. Add that to the sudden halt of promotion for her last dope pop record Breathe In. Breathe Out. and several revelations from the Duff herself claiming she doesn't have the energy being a top tier pop star demands, and music is down a Duff.
"I'm not going to be on a world tour and be the top of the charts because I don't have the time to put in and that's not what's important to me," she said back in February.
Well, freak out no more. the "Tattoo" singer posted a new clip of a never-before-heard song on SnapChat, and it's giving me life. All I can hear is her sing about memories (a memoryyyyy), but more importantly... it's a clear indicator Duff hasn't thrown in the towel on music just yet.
A preview of the new @HilaryDuff song during her recording studio session today from Snapchat! 🎤🎶 pic.twitter.com/vuaxD6TJej
— Hilary Duff News (@HilaryNews) May 25, 2016
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Wobbegong shark – Some of the most interesting and fascinating creatures found in ocean, sharks are actually of over 400 species and people only know a few of them. Only few people are aware of the existence of wobbegong shark.
They may have a funny a name, but they are quite real. Also, they may be with the fearsomeness of great white sharks, but they have some of the greatest characteristics up their sleeves.
Wobbegong shark belongs to twelve species of the carpet sharks from the Orectolobidae family. Commonly, they can be found in the tropical waters with shallow temperature of East Indian Ocean and Western part of Pacific Ocean.
The term "wobbegong" is believed to originate from the Australian aboriginal language that simply means "shaggy beard" which refers to the developments around their mouth of western Pacific.
Wobbegong Shark Characteristics
One of the interesting wobbegong shark facts is that these sharks are considered to be bottom-dwelling sharks, meaning they are spending most of their time in resting and hiding on the sea floor.
Also, their characteristics being bottom dwellers and of being well camouflaged are great advantages for them as they hide around rocks and any other places in spotting their potential prey. Wobbegong shark can be seen in the sandy parts of the coral reef where they find plenty of foods.
Most of the species of wobbegong shark have the extreme length of 5 feet (1.5 m) or lesser and the largest are the speckled wobbegong (Orectolobus maculatus) and the hooped wobbegong (O. halei) which can reach about 9.8 feet (3 m) in length.
Wobbegong shark is an ambush predator and can ideally strike at smaller fish that they are straying closer to their hiding place. Their camouflage is well-improved through the existence of their tiny weed-like hairsbreadth lobes that surround their jaw acting as sensory barbs.
Wobbegong Shark Feeding
Wobbegong shark species feed at night upon the invertebrates and benthic fish. During the day, specie like tasseled wobbegong shark is resting in sheltered areas, including caves under the ledges.
Their mouth is quite large and the wobbegong teeth are very strong to where they have been seen tremendously swallowing other sharks whole. Wobbegong shark can be fed on other fish sharing its caves.
Wobbegong Shark Reproduction
Wobbegong shark like tasseled wobbegong shark is considered to be ovoviviparous, therefore that their females' eggs develop within their body. During the process, the young can get the nourishment in the wobbegong shark womb from the egg yolk. Pups are approximately about 7 to 8 inches long when born.
Wobbegong Shark Captivity
There are some cases for unstoppable selling of wobbegong shark in the aquarium and chooses to be wobbegong pet despite of the fact that they are not suitable for home aquaria because of their large size, especially the adult wobbegong shark.
The species of small tasseled wobbegong shark and ward's wobbegong are the ideal sharks for enthusiastic aquarists due to their appropriate size and are lethargic where they can be housed within limited space.
On the hand, some of the aquarists prefer more active sharks than wobbegong pet because of limited activity. Wobbegong shark is quite nocturnal and because of their sluggish metabolism they do not need to be fed often compared to other shark.
Most of them are doing well on weekly two feedings while the underfed wobbegong sharks can easily be recognized through their visible atrophied dorsal musculature.
- Read Also: Are Sharks Fish?
Where to See Wobbegong Shark
Mostly, wobbegong shark are seen in the oceans of Pacific and Indian around Indonesia and Australia. They can be usually found in the shallow part water and mostly near the quite developed areas such as the urban beaches in the part of Western Australian coasts of Queensland & New South Wales.
Manly Beach, nearby Sydney is characterized with fairly huge population which a common spot for scuba diving making it possible to spot wobbegong shark.
When to See Wobbegong Shark
Wobbegong shark could be seen a year round although on their habitat's cooler climates, but they can be most frequently spotted during warm months. They can be reliably found in similar areas dive afterward dive since they are popularly known to be bottom dwellers and highly territorial.
Also, wobbegong shark are primarily nocturnal, so they can be easily found during the day where they become less or more dominant exhibiting more activities when spotted during night dives.
Wobbegong Shark Human Interactions
Wobbegong shark are considerable not threatening to humans, but due to their ability to camouflage into their environment, combined with wobbegong sharp teeth that are sharp that can actually result to painful bite.
There are only few reported incidents wherein divers have been grabbed by wobbegongs by their tails with the attempt of pulling them from under of the rock shelf causing the shark to piece. Wobbegong shark teeth are small yet quite sharp, so their bite is severe though often not dangerous.
Actually, wobbegong sharks are those that are being eaten frequently by humans. Their meat is known to be sold in the name of "flake" and commonly used in producing Fish and Chips particularly in Australia.
Wobbegong Shark Endangered Status
There is a variation of species for the endangered status for wobbegong shark that is commonly fished in the regions they inhabit for commercial purposes. Most of the species are in Near Threatened range while some data are lacking in some.
So, if you have ever seen wobbegong shark, tell us where you saw it.
Top 10 Wobbegong Shark Facts
Wobbegong shark is considered to be one of the most amazing and extraordinary looking species of shark. Although they have been seen over 100 years ago, they are less people who know well about them. These sharks have branched and distinct lobes extending from head and with flattened appearance.
Wobbegong simply means "shaggy beard"
The word "wobbegong" might sound similar something out of Dr. Seuss book, but it is quite real word. Originally, it came from Australian Aborigine language or the natives of Australia which simply means "shaggy beard." In Australia, people lovingly called wobbegong sharks as "wobbies."
The reason behind why wobbegong sharks were called "shaggy" is due to their look having a beard. They have whiskers also known as barbels around nose and flap of skins that appears like fins around their mouths, eyes and on their head's other sides.
The scientific name of the wobbegong shark family is Orectolobidae, from Greek words orektus, meaning "stretched out" and lobos, meaning "lobe."
Wobbegong sharks are also popularly known as "carpet sharks"
Wobbegong shark is also called carpet shark because of their ability to be bottom dwellers which is relatively stays on the ocean floor. They have greenish or brownish skin covering in a unique bold markings pattern that effectively keep them camouflaged on the sandy areas and make them hide from larger fish and other marine mammals.
However, they are quite well-hidden sometimes where people tend to step on them resulting to painful bites.
There are known 12 species of wobbegong sharks
The family of wobbegong sharks includes spotted wobbegong, banded wobbegong, ornate wobbegong, floral banded wobbegong, dwarf spotted wobbegong, Indonesian wobbegong, Japanese wobbegong, tasseled wobbegong, cobbler wobbegong, northern wobbegong and western wobbegong.
The largest specie is the spotted wobbegong which can amazingly grow over 3 meters (10 feet) long or with a normal range of 1.8 meters to 2.4 meters (6 to 8 feet) long. Then, the smallest is the floral banded wobbegong reaching only 0.8 meters (2.5 feet) in length.
Wobbegong sharks are lazy
Wobbegong sharks are nocturnal, they are seen sleeping during the day while hunting for food at night. This is due to their poor eyesight and mostly relying into their barbels in sensing the environment. When they hunt, they are still barely moving and when they do, they remain sluggish.
Moreover, wobbegong sharks do not to keep on moving in order for them to breath similar to the great white shark does. These sharks are well-known being the obligate ram ventilators where they have to ventilate to ram water into their mouths while swimming and then goes out of their gills.
Therefore, they can simply breathe by just taking water within their mouths and pumping it into their gills by means of their cheeks' strong muscle.
Wobbegong sharks can actually "walk"
During the more active days of, wobbegong sharks are moving across the ocean floor through their bottom fins making them look like walking. Also, they are also seen climbing out of water going from one tide pool to another. They can amazingly survive long trips by juts maintaining their grills wet.
- Read Also: Smallest Sharks in the World
Wobble sharks hunt by means of ambush
Like most of the other sharks, wobbegong sharks are known to be the effective hunters. Yet, they are very lazy they wait for their pray to come closer to them and then make their attacks instead of actively searching for food or chasing after prey.
They use their fleshy lobes and barbels in luring their prey including smaller sharks, lobsters, bottom-dwelling fishes, crabs and octopuses and when these animals came closer enough, they attack them with a quick snap.
Although wobbegong sharks are swimming slowly, they can snap swiftly with just a blink of an eye. They swallow their small prey whole and when their prey are tool large, they hold it within using their strong jaw until they die and then seat them one chunk at a time.
Wobbegong sharks have strong jaws and sharp teeth
Wobbegong shark is characterized with powerful jaw and can open mouth wide in order to swallow prey effortlessly which is big as their size. And, when they bite, they do not release their prey or easily let them go.
Although wobbegong shark teeth are small, these are incredibly sharp and pointed and known in penetrating through the diving suits which can cause painful bites.
Although wobbegong sharks have been already bitten before and none of their population have ended dying, about a total of 28 unprovoked wobbegong attacks were recorded in the past 450 years. And, 4 of these recorded wobbegong shark attacks are being attributed to spotted wobbegong.
Wobbegong shark females give birth to pups
Since wobbegong sharks are sharks belonging to ovoviviparous, this simply means that the young can actually develop in female eggs inside the body of the mother and successfully being nourished by the egg yolk and not by the mother wobbegong shark's food. After hatching, the young are continuing to be developed inside their mother's body.
These type of process have a total gestation period of 10 up to 11 months and they will be born as live young called the pups. The young's litter size may vary according to their species, coming from few as 12 up to many as 53.
And these pups are not able to receive any care from their mother at all, but they are sticking together in order for them to stay safe and secured while hunting for their food on their own.
Some of the wobbegong sharps can serve as pets.
There are some people who are quite interested to have a wobbegong shark pet. Wobbegong sharks are quite possible to be kept as pets. Although only the smaller species are ideal to be pets, this requires a tank with similar size to swimming pool.
People have to remember that these sharks are lazy and if they wanted a pet that will swim around, they are not perfect for them. But, the good thing is, they only need to be fed twice a week.
Wobbegong shark are currently not endangered
Out of 12 species of wobbegong sharks, only 4 of them have been assessed by IUNC such as banded wobbegong, spotted wobbegong, tasseled wobbegong and ornate wobbegong. And these species are currently classified as Near Threatened meaning, they still have stable large population.
Although their flesh is quite tasty and commonly used in making fish and chips and their skin are used in making leather, they are still considered not widely hunted and of limited commercial value.


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Hailed as one of the best books of 2009 by the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, this vibrant portrait of 1930s culture masterfully explores the anxiety and hope, the despair and surprising optimism of distressed Americans during the Great Depression.
Morris Dickstein, whom Norman Mailer called "one of our best and most distinguished critics of American literature," has brought together a staggering range of material, from epic Dust Bowl migrations to zany screwball comedies, elegant dance musicals, wildly popular swing bands, and streamlined art deco designs. Exploding the myth that Depression culture was merely escapist, Dickstein concentrates on the dynamic energy of the arts and the resulting lift they gave to the nation's morale. A fresh and exhilarating analysis of one of America's most remarkable artistic periods, with Dancing in the Dark Dickstein delivers a monumental critique.
©2009 Morris Dickstein (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
"Dancing in the Dark is a fine, high-minded survey of the decade's cultural history." (New York Times Book Review)
"An exhaustive and invigorating overview of the films, songs, books, plays, buildings, and design that emerged from America's darkest economic decade." (Los Angeles Times)
"The definitive book about Depression culture for our time." (San Francisco Chronicle)
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Awards and Recognition
Pacific Dental Services® realizes that extraordinary performance doesn't just happen. Some employees go through the motions while others execute. Sound familiar? Are you the type who carves out personal challenges? Motivates others to aspire to greatness? Do you lead by example? Does anyone even notice?
We do.
Pacific Dental Services subscribes to a simple, yet fundamental philosophy: Recognize and reward those who give 150 percent because it's the right thing to do. So don't be surprised if your supervisor gives you a shout out like, "Hey, great way to handle that situation!" And perhaps you'll land that coveted promotion that everyone has been sparring over. One thing that's for certain is you receiving an invitation to our extravagant annual gala called XP (for eXtraordinary performance).
Each year, Pacific Dental Services rolls out the red carpet to honor the highest-caliber, most eXcellent PDS® employees and supported dentists. XP also serves as a yearly training bonanza where world-class business speakers and our top executive team share their wisdom. This hugely-anticipated tradition gives up-and-coming employees (like you) a glimpse into their future – more specifically, their promising and exhilarating career! Pacific Dental Services spares no expense in coordinating the remarkable cuisine, chic atmosphere and festive awards ceremony just so we can come face to face with our top performers and offer a heartfelt, "Well done!".
We understand this sentiment may seem antiquated. Other companies tell their employees that it's reward enough just to have a job in this economy. That concept just doesn't work for us. Quite simply, our company was founded on good old-fashioned core values like hard work, integrity, individual achievement and, yes, respect for every single human being. It's who we are.
If that's who you are, Pacific Dental Services is where you should be.
Visit pdsxp.com and glimpse what a future with PDS can look like.


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It's what we aspire to do, in my chosen genre. We hope to have the skill to draw you down into the moment of revelation and make an episode of it, like they do in the 24 television show. We hope to take the reader down with us, like a drowner or a quicksand sibilant.
Blake Butler over at VICE has chronicled the precise experience of consuming the new Taco Bell nacho scarapetta, the one you've seen in the commercial where a young boy runs from a father of uncertain relation. His play-by-play spares no-one in its visceral and crude language, and I think it will ring true for anyone who has committed to the full-sodium Taco Bell sin after lunchtime hours.
If you want to know what it might be like to ever consume the entire Taco Bell menu while compromised, I once wrote a comic about it: It Is Here.


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At the Internet Strategy Forum Summit 2009, happening today in Portland, Jeremiah Owyang posited in passing that registration pages will go away as a result of the advent and growth of identity management and single sign-on solutions.
Identity management solutions allow people to log-in to sites using credentials and social network profiles they've already created elsewhere. Key providers of identity management solutions (and holders of users social network profiles) include Facebook, Google, Yahoo!, myspace, AOL, Windows Live ID, as well as various OpenID providers. From an end-user perspective, the value is obvious, and the experience is simple: I already have a log-in and profile at Facebook, let me use that log-in (and my profile info) to log-in to your site; I don't want to fill out your registration form.
Jeremiah's point was that, because of the adoption of these solutions, the way site operators collect leads from the site will change as a result. Without a registration form, you won't be collecting email addresses and other lead data and passing to your CRM, at least not in the same way. This piqued my curiosity, as lead capture is a key part of digital markeitng operations and analytics. As it happened, I was sitting next to Tore C. Steen, VP of Business Development at JanRain. JanRain, a Portland company, is creator of the open source libraries that power most implementations of OpenID. JanRain also offers a product called RPX, a SaaS offering that makes it easy for site operators to integrate any or all of the OpenID, OAuth, or proprietary identity management systems into their site.
My big question to Tore was "what data is made available to the site operators who adopt an identity management solution on thier site?". Jeremiah was right…how site operators collect leads is going to change, but wow, what a postive change it will be. The data available to site operators, from the big players especially, is almost stunning. Think about the about the information about me stored in my Facebook or Plaxo profile – name, age, sex, email address, interests, etc. Most or all of that data (depending on the specific player) is made available to site operators when I log in using my Facebook (Plaxo, etc.) credentials. And, everytime I log back in to your site you get updated profile information from the identity provider I used to log-in. Most surprisingly, site operators can also access the list of user IDs of my friends and connections. What marketer doesn't want that?
As a site operator and a marketer, letting customers log in to your site using an identity management solution has significant benefits:
- Customer experience: End-users like it because it eliminates registration friction on your site
- Registration volume: registration rates will go up due to eliminated friction
- Data Accuracy: Data is kept up-to-date as users update their social network profiles
- Data Richness: There's no way I'd give you all the data in a registration form that you'll get from my Facebook profile
The value prop to site operators and marketers is clear. This is certainly the way of the future – the registration page will disappear. Marketers will need to form new data strategies around the types of data that are going to be available from the identity providers. It may not be quite as easy as pasting a form on your site, and using a Salesforce.com plug-in to collect it, but the robustness of the data should more than make up for the little additional effort and planning required.
I really like the JanRain RPX solution, too. There are too many identity management providers to try to integrate them directly on your site. With RPX, you simply deploy the RPX solution, select which identity providers you want to support, and JanRain brokers all the data transactions and registrations for you. I think they'll have a nice buisiness.
Filed under: Marketing, Social Media, web 2.0


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Vintage Jewelry Lot of Earrings Signed,Reja, Panetta, NeedlePoint, Rhinestone
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- Source: eBay
Here is a Vintage Jewelry Lot of (5) Pairs Earrings Signed,Reja, Panetta, NeedlePoint, Rhinestone". There are four pairs of clip on earrings, one pierced earring. One pair white rhinestone / faux pearl dangle earrings signed "Panetta" , goldtone Bumble Bee earrings signed "Reja" , a few white rhinestones are missing on each earring, goldtone needle point earrings, blue and green rhinestone dangle earrings on silvertone base, and white rhinestone bead on pattern silvertone base. With the exception of the missing rhinestones on the Reja earrings the rest of the earrings are in good condition.Domestic Buyer: $4.95 includes tracking shipping & handling International Buyer:$5.95


text: Microsft have began rolling out a new dashboard update on the Xbox 360 today, the new version number is 2.0.17148.0 So far no official information has been released about the dashboard update, although there does not appear to be any major changes to the dashboard so far, we will however update here when we have the official patch notes. Those with flashed consoles using LT3.0 along with xKey are reporting no issues with updating to the latest dash, with no need for a re-flash: A list of drives that have been updated is being compiled in the forums here, thanks to our members. If you have updated and are using LT3.0, please submit your drive type. As always with any new dashboard update, if you are unsure about updating the best thing to do is wait!