AVA at ICCA Quarterfinals 2011

So Ani V'Ata competed at the International Championship for Collegiate A Cappella Northeastern Quarterfinals for 2011 (whew, that's a mouthful)! And what an event it was! The competition was high, with the other a cappella groups performing extraordinarily well, most notably the Nor'easters from Northeastern University and the Starving Artists from Brandeis University. Also at the competition was our good friends, Tizmoret from Queens College.

When we were going into the competition, we weren't really expecting to do all that well. I mean, we knew we were/are hot stuff, but what are the odds we would do well? The order of performances for these competitions is selected randomly by picking a number out of a hat, and we came up last. We were the closing performance! While we were less than pleased with this twist of events at first, we soon realized that it played to our advantage because being last allowed us to be freshest in the minds of the judges. We sang our songs, kicking butt the way we do, and when the judges left after our performance to talk about the winners, the emcee proposed a beatbox battle. I ran on stage. Unfortunately, we do not have any footage of this epic event, but let's just say I had a lot of fun.

When the judges came back, they had everyone from every group come on the stage. First they handed out some awards. I did not get the Vocal Percussion award, but the judges didn't see the beatbox battle, so it's their own loss. As our group is standing together awaiting our impending doom, we heard the judge announce the award for best soloist, "Melanie Herrera of Ani V'Ata!" we went crazy! Someone from our group got an award of that magnitude! Then they started announcing the group winners. When the Starving Artists won third place, we hung our heads, because we were expecting that to be the best we would get. But then they announced us as the 2nd place winners who would be going on to the semifinals along with the 1st place winners! Our group went ballistic! We jumped up and down, the euphoria of the event not really hitting us yet. You can imagine, we are all still riding on a cloud at the moment. It was a great night.

Welcome To College

This is a video that I made a long time ago, waaay at the beginning of the school year. The footage was taken within the first month of school, and edited into this video shortly after. I never posted it because... Well, I have no idea why, actually. I just didn't deal with it. Anyway, enjoy!

Ani V'Ata: The Inaugural Tour (Trailer 2)

This is the second installation of trailers for the upcoming documentary about NYU's Premier Jewish A Cappella group, Ani V'Ata. The documentary highlights the inaugural tour of the group, where they sang at numerous gigs in both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Expect the documentary to be available March or April time.

Ani V'Ata: The Inaugural Tour (Trailer 1)

After 14 years of a cappella goodness, the Jewish group from NYU has finally taken a big step towards becoming world stars. On their first tour ever, Bass and Beatboxer David Stern (known to his fellow singers and friends by his Jewish name, Dovid) brought along his camera and plenty of tapes.
This is a trailer for the upcoming documentary film about the group, highlighting the tour. Keep watching... There is more to come!

Jay-Z To Perform with Ani V'Ata at Winter Concert!!!

Apparently, Mr. Jay-Z, legendary rap artist, is set to perform with the Jewish A Cappella group from NYU, Ani V'Ata for their Winter Concert. The concert is being aptly named "Hanukapella: You Spin My Dreidel Right Round," as it falls on the 3rd night of the Jewish Holiday of Chanukah. The occurrence of Mr. Z's performance is especially noteworthy because the night of the concert is also his birthday. Happy Birthday Mr. Z!

Making Pizza!

I decided to make a video about one of the world's best foods... Pizza! Don't get too excited, though. I used a pre-made pizza crust for it, and the whole thing was heated and baked in a tiny pizza oven - so small that the sides curl up on the pizza like a hammock and all the toppings (cheese included) slide to the middle. Despite all that, the whole ordeal is quick and easy, and sooo tasty. For this particular pizza, I used mushrooms and raw onions plus spices (salt and pepper, garlic powder, and oregano), although in the past I've used peppers of various colors, fried eggs, and even sauerkraut. I like to experiment.

I should just put this out there... This was filmed and edited last week, but seeing as I was packing and getting ready to head back to the city for the real world, I simply ran out of time and couldn't put this video up until now. Enjoy it, belated as it is!

Campfire!

Everyone loves a campfire. Something about that element seems to attract people. Is it the heat? The light? The intangibility of it? Whatever it is about fire that draws us to it, there is also some definite associations with a campfire that attracts people in other ways. Marshmallows, for instance. Hot dogs, songs, stories... They're all good reasons to sit around the fire. Maybe it's because we associate our time around the campfire with our free time. If we're sitting around a campfire, it means we're on vacation. Ah, vacation, that magical time period when nothing can touch us - not work, not school - nothing.

My nephews wanted a campfire today, so of course I had to oblige. Who could refuse those guys? Anyway, we built up the fire without much trouble, and it burned quite easily. The ground is pretty dry, and the wood was kept inside. Well, for those of you who are in a sorry state where you can't enjoy the comfort of a campfire at some point this summer, this one's for you.