Here we go again, everyone! Advent Caroling Madness kicks off yet another year.
I picked a less-well-known carol this year, because, well, it’s been growing on me from my Christmas playlist over the last few years. Normally I have to whittle things down to get to the 16 that fills a normal bracket; but this year, there just aren’t as many options. Many were submitted by multiple people, so we end up with a simple bracket of 8 versions as we get ready to vote our way to number one (and have you all yell at me along the way, I am sure.)
Here’s the bracket:
More than in past years, I did my seeding focused on the matchups rather than put them in perfect order of how I liked them. I chose 4 and 5 because they are basically both the same arrangement; we will let your votes decide which should advance. (I would have had Vocal Point higher than 4, that’s the version that’s been capturing me from my playlist recently.)
3 and 6 face each other, because they are both classic choir arrangements.
Which sets you all up for yelling at me for my 7 seed, which three of you nominated and which Bethany Bylsma absolutely demanded must be in. (I love it more than a 7, but not as much as several of you. I love listening to it, but the big arrangement doesn’t fit the lyrics.)
SO HERE WE GO! GET YOUR VOTES IN BY WEDNESDAY DEC. 17 AT 8 PM PST!
The first matchup features #1 Elevation Choir (submitted by Bethany Bylsma, Phil Rodin, and Carol Sherwood) against #8 Meghan Summers (submitted by Jennifer Perez.)
The second matchup pits two very similar arrangements. #4 BYU Vocal Point was the original, and submitted by Andy Comfort and myself. #5 Chris Rupp credits Vocal Point for their inspiration for his arrangement, and was nominated by Bethany Lee and Phil Rodin.
#3 King’s College and #6 Memphis Chorale are classic choir arrangements. The two Bethanys submitted these, Bethany Lee for King’s College and Bethany Bylsma for the Memphis Chorale (and she gave a shout out to the instrumentation, which I agree is lovely.)
Finally, the matchup where I know you will yell at me. First, because of the terribly unjust low #7 seed for Tyler Allen, and second because these both deserve to advance far based on their musical quality. But NO you have to CHOOSE BETWEEN THEM in the first round! Bethany Bylsma, Phil Rodin, and Andy Comfort all submitted Tyler Allen, and Samara Eilert and Jennifer Perez submitted #2 The Porter’s Gate.
So there you go! Vote hard and share and get your friends involved in the Advent Caroling Madness!