Back to the Honda Center

I rest, and even fade to sleep for a bit, content with what we’ve accomplished, and wishing the hours to move faster so we can get to the outcome!

After an hour and a half of light snoozing, I realize that I still have my contacts in and my makeup on. The realities of show biz are interfering with my nap.

I get up and take out my contacts, and then scrub my face with a washcloth, soap and water. While I am up the door to the room opens – Becky, Brandon & Benjamin have returned. They’re still full of excitement about the VM’s performance, and also tell me about some of the other choruses’ creative sets.

We make plans for the evening. Of course we’re going to be at the second contest session for the announcement, but we also need to figure out our evening meal.

The second session starts at 6:00. I’d like to see all of it – it will be a complete joy to simply sit and watch others perform! We settle on heading back to the Honda Center (via the Hilton) early, around 5:00, and then getting a bite or two to eat there, before the contest starts.

And that’s just what we do. We get back to the Honda Center with plenty of time before the chorus contest resumes. Oddly, though, no food or drinks are allowed in the arena. I can’t understand that – do they keep food and beverages out during hockey games? I think not. Why they prohibit it for us is a curiosity.

Adding to the problem is the fact that there are no tables or seating areas in the concourse. (Of course there aren’t – normally you can eat at your seat!) So… we get some burgers at a Carl’s Jr. counter, and then find a stairwell and park ourselves on the steps to eat! It’s not an ideal solution – we have to move aside occasionally for people going up and down the stairs – but it beats standing.

We finish eating just before 6:00, deposit our trash, and head to our seats. Surprisingly, I’m still not at all worried about the outcome of the contest. It’s out of our hands anyway, but we’ve done everything we could possibly do. It will be amazing if anyone can top the performance we gave.

Promptly at six, the second session begins. The “mic tester” chorus – an honorary performance-only position given to choruses who just miss qualifying to compete – is the Spirit of Aloha chorus from Hawaii. They charm the audience with a comedy set which has them all dressed like Frankenstein’s monsters. Funnier still is the fact that, after they perform, they’re left onstage for a few minutes while some technical issues are addressed, and they never, ever break character – they grunt and move stiffly, and their director (dressed as a mad scientist, of course), hams it up for the audience. Finally they’re given the all-clear, and plod monster-like offstage without waiting for the curtain to close. A real crowd-pleaser.

A few minutes later, we start seeing scores of Frankenstein’s monsters coming into the audience. I love these conventions.

I update my Facebook status on my cell phone for friends following along with my adventure: Four hours until the results!