Audience Behavior at Contest: Cheer and Holler or Simply Applaud?
Posted by Rick Spencer | Posted in Chorus, Contests & Judging, Events, Just for Fun, Music, Quartetting, Uncategorized | Posted on March 17, 2010, 2:13 PM
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Yea, I know, who cares? Right?
BUT…As a competitor, judge, and staff guy, I get around to many contests each year in several different districts and I always find it interesting how varying barbershop audiences can be with the way they welcome the competitors to the stage. For example, there’s the audience that listens to the presenter (or MC) and starts to applaud only after each group’s full name is announced and then there’s the audience that starts applauding and/or chanting the group’s name over the MC’s introduction and when the group’s name is finally announced they go wild.
So which audience are you a part of? What do you prefer as an audience member? What do you prefer as a competitor? Who cares? 
I personally like the loud noise. There is nothing better (IMO) than a ton of energy coming from the audience for a competitor to feed from.
Regardless of your preference, we’ve got a lot of contests coming up this spring and all of the participants that cross the stage deserve the best welcome we can give them. We’re all in this thing together, after all.
Good luck everyone!
Lots O’Noise for me, Rick.
But here’s what I hate. The folks that shout out things like “We can’t hear! Turn on the mic!” and “House lights!” or “Open the curtain wider!”
Sheesh. As a good friend of mine puts it, you wouldn’t do that at a junior high school recital. And you certainly wouldn’t do it at a “regular” concert. Would you? Why do folks think they’re entitled to do it at a BBS contest or show? It’s beyond me. I know we’re all family and all, but come on. It’s disrespectful.
I’m here to tell you that the crew has probably recognized any “problem” before you did.
Whew. OK. Back to the topic at hand.
I’m another big fan of really vocal audiences. As a relatively inexperienced quartet, we were overwhelmed (in a good way) by the great support we received in Nashville and Anaheim. Long may it continue! Similarly, a bigger audience at the collegiate contest would always be more welcome by the guys on stage! Show these guys how much you care about the future of youth in barbershop – the quality is incredible! You’ll love it. Monkey Magic are really looking forward to Philly!!! See you there!
It was interesting last weekend in Greenville how the audience began reacting to the Nashville cheering section. On Friday evening, the pre-clapping from the Nashville corner of the balcony over the MC was being tolerated as each of Nashville’s seven (wow!) quartets came up in the order. However, by Saturday night, the pre-clapping for the four (wow again!) finalist quartets was being met with a chorus of shushes from the rest of the audience. I guess there’s a fine line between being enthusiastic and being annoying. I think the lesson there was that noise is fine as your quartet is coming on, but drowning out the MC before hand wasn’t ok with the rest of that particular audience.
I agree! Noise once the MC has finished the in-between-remarks is OK, but trying to talk over the noise is disrespectful, Dixie can do better than the International does!
If the MC has something of import to say, I’ve always seen them able to raise a hand or somethign to indicate it is not just another unnecessary announcement.
If he is truly a presenter, as most have thankfully become, then we don’t need to hear the announcement as we all have a program.
The COMPETITOR can hear the cheering BEFORE they enter the stage, which is very valuable and can result in an increased gift to us, the audience.
As a competitor and an audience member…I love it when the crowd goes wild. Spontaneous audience response is…well, spontaneous and from the heart! Chanting, cheering, etc. prior to a competitor’s entrance only adds to the excitement.
A few bothersome things: OPENING CANDY/COUGH DROP WRAPPERS DURING A BALLAD. Yelling “YOU BET!!!” AT THE END OF A BALLAD BEFORE THE AUDIENCE APPLAUDS. HUMMING OR SINGING ALONG…And the (rare) in-audience trashtalking of a performer (unless its Metropolis)…their loved ones could be within earshot
Most of this stuff occurs rarely, and not on purpose…but being a lil’ more self-aware is always a good thing…
Otherwise….CHEER AWAY!!!
As a contestant I love it when they really get into it. I like to get into into myself when I’m in the Audiance especially when they move you emotionally.
John
Greenvile last weekend was the first contest my wife and I have attended. We were astonished at the rude behavior between acts when the president of the District was doing his best to fill a couple minutes of needed time between groups. It seems that some in the audience thought it was cute to start clapping in unison, while Drayton was talking, as if to say shut up, bring on the next group now, we don’t care what you’re saying and we don’t care if anybody else wants to hear either.
Enthusiasm before and after the singing is great but what they did was disrespectful and disrupting. We were taken aback by the boorish behavior and it reflrects poorly on on the District and the Society.
I have a different take on the Greenville audience behavior.
The “boorish” behavior referred to in an earlier post was clearly the result of the enthusiasm by the younger fans showing the “love” for “their” quartets.
I think about the local BHS as both Enterainment and Fine Arts… Think Rock Concert and Opera….or at least a very little bit of both. (I don’t want to belabor it but the younger generation largely prefers the rock concert environment.)
I found it refreshing – at the cost of not quite hearing all the MC’s jokes – to hear the “noise” and believe that the “boorish” actions were pretty normal and well contained in the context of an entertainment stage. (In case you were absent and wondering…there wasn’t any crowd surfing or rushing-the-stage activity going on.)
It is not as if the future of barbershop depends on allowing cheers and the chanting before a performance…but as long as the chants and cheers aren’t disruptive or disrespectful to the performers before or after…why not?!! Our goal as entertainers is to give the audience (the whole audience) what they want.
I guess that you could argue that the chants were disrespectful towards the MC…but…I am thinking the MC didn’t mind an enthusiastic, occasionally loud crowd vs a sedate, quiet crowd.
I’m a long-time barbershopper who loves the wonderful hobby, and I was accustomed to our image as polite, respectable, friendly, considerate members and fans. But our behavior has deteriorated. Perhaps, this change merely reflects the general coarsening of our American culture, but the rudeness of audiences hooting and rythmically clapping, drowning out the words of the MC is shameful. Furthermore, in some venues where the lighting is insufficient to read the program, one can be unaware of the identity of the performer. Enthusiastic support is great, but does not trump good manners.
In Far Western, we have eliminated the need to “fill the time” between competitors, thus allowing us to pump up the next conetstant so that we can be rewarded with a great performance.
I personally love when the audience can’t be stopped, and they just cheer wildly for someone they really want to see. If the quartet has made the audience love them that much, let them bask in the fruits of their labors.
Amen to fervent vocal support!
A well-trained emcee who is truly there for the competitors should know his or her job is to actively encourage such support.
Important announcements can be made immediately after the prior contestant (having given proper kibbitzing time among the audience). They will have no interference with the important audience support of our heroes.
Check out the windup of a Bob Kearnal (sp?). Mastery of the artform of contest mc’ing, as he attempts to get the crowd into EACH of the performers. The crazy partisans still get their moment to cheer their guys, but all is well paced and appropriate.
I have been on two other ends of it at international and other contests, where an MC was certain his joke was the most important thing to continue at that time and it cost the performer that evidence of support from the audience.
On the other side, I have been to contests where the MC barely rasps a whisper of encouragement in a dull monotone that again costs the audience a part to encourage and take more ownership of the stories being portrayed in front of them.
Long live the great MC’s and the raucus encouragement they bring.
As a competitor, I enjoy hearing the love and support from the audience when I am behind the curtain. I do have to be aware to get my own adrenaline under control when I hear it but WOW…what a rush!!
As an audience member, I prefer the clapping and whooping to start just after the MC says “Let’s have the door closed please…”. This way you still show your support for the competitor and remain respectful to the MC. Also, you are more apt to hear the important information that might be sprinkled between the “bad jokes”.
I’ve always been amused that people are upset with rowdy audiences. You are hearing loud and clear that the competitors LOVE them. Let me emphasize the word “LOVE” them. I haven’t met too many who will say, “we want a quiet and respectful audience before we are announced”. It fires them up. And when they get fired up, the audience gets a better product and is more entertained.
As a judge, I love when the audience is cheering and screaming and loving all of the competitors prior to coming on – it makes for a great contest environment and we see the best the quartets and choruses have to offer. It is not about the MC – it is about the competitors and the gifts that they share. I’ve been in contests where it is a tomb. Performers die on stage because they can feel the lack of energy in the auditorium. Even when they are singing, you can literally feel a lack of energy from the audience.
So, what do you want?
Kevin
I don’t often write “me too” notes – but I am 100% in agreement – I want to hear the audience! There is a synergy that occurs that creates and enhances the artistic experience, and a supportive and “alive” audience supports that. Some of the more creative chanting and stomping can also enhance the performance experience for the audience – light sabers, spinning messages, funny hats, etc.
Having a supportive audience for me helps me gain that extra boost of energy and confidence as a competitor. So I am definitely in favor of cheering and hollering.
I liked the “come back” that Terry Clarke gave back in the 1974 NED Fall convention when he was emceeing the chorus contest. Someone shouted from the back of the hall: “can’t hear you Terry”! Terry replied: “Well, I wasn’t really speaking to you sir”!
I love “loud and lively” when I am in the audience.
I love “loud and lively” when I am waiting in the wings to compete.
I love “loud and lively” when I am competing.
I love “loud and lively” I am leaving the stage after competing.
Nothing is more of a bummer than a quiet and reserved audience. Yawn!
I hate the chanting and clapping over the MC’s words…I didn’t come to hear the rude noises, I came to hear the contest. All MC’s should be asked by the Society to abruptly stop talking and just wait until the crowd becomes respectful. If a standing ovation with cheers and whistles is appropriate after a performance, then fine. While I’m making a comment, let me just say that there seems to be some who don’t believe the “Please turn off your cell phones” pertains to them. Why is that? Why is there always one guy who thinks that the Pentagon must be dialing his number and he can’t miss the call? THEY PUT “VIBRATE” IN THERE FOR A REASON!
It is interesting to see the varied comments. Particularly ones that show a split over what is important in a contest. Is it the MC? Or showing support?
One thing I WILL say can be annoying is high-pitched whistles. I’m only 33 and am terribly sensitive to them. I’m okay with boisterousness in general, but when it can physically hurt someone, I would say there are better options.
I have NEVER seen a crowd that couldn’t be stopped by an MC if a truly important announcement needed to be made. But as was pointed out, Bob Cearnal is the KING of emcee-ing, and he doesn’t WANT to be heard by the time his announcement is complete.
If you are there to hear the MC say a quartet’s name, perhaps you are missing the potential “synergy” (as Giuseppi Hunna points out) that can be built long before a quartet or chorus is seen.
Sorry… didn’t mean for my reply to imbed in Don’s comment. It wasn’t a direct reply to his opinion.
I LOVE the cheers and yells and clapping and stomping and (If Frank the Dog is competing), the barking!!
I don’t like MCs who think their job is to fill time, especially with what, to them, is humorous. Except for the really dead audiences that Kevin Keller mentions, I (and I think a lot of audience members) like to chat after each contestant and then whoop it up for the next contestant. Yeah, I know I’m gonna hear about cell phones and the MarketPlace, but otherwise, I really don’t want to see or hear an MC until it is time to yell for the next contestant.
So, Rick, a staff challenge: Please select *presenters* for International contests that are content to leave their attempts at humor at home and simply announce competitors with all the enthusiasm they can muster.
Duly noted!
Thinking back to my competition runs with the Harmonizers I recall the nerves and concerns and jitters and butterflies as we gathered backstage. But when the audience noise and shouts and stomping feet began all that went away and a wonderful feeling of elation came over me/us and ……. then it was over and we were exhausted. Keep up the noise. It’s muchly appreciated.
I have long complained about the dead stages in NED before the quartet is announced. A recent contest was a big improvement (I think we owe thanks to Mike Klein).
I just MC-ed for the first time this spring, and I encouraged the audience to talk over me, especially during quartet introductions. I have a pretty loud resonant voice and if someone wanted to listen they could. I kept my comments pretty minimal anyway, just sticking to show announcements, and only coming out when the judges appeared close to ready.
People like to provide support to their friends and favorites and talk about what they have just seen. I have resolved to not shush when being shushed by the MC unless the announcement is truly important. The MC is a facilitator not part of the show in my opinion.