WASHINGTON (AFP) — Clad in sequined costumes, fake eyelashes and lots of lipstick, more than 1,000 women descend every year on a US east coast seaside town to compare not their good looks, but their beauty in song.
These fans of women's Barbershop -- a distinctly American style of a cappella singing in four parts -- don't stay hidden for long when 1,200 of them invade the streets of Ocean City, Maryland, dressed in florescent gowns and frilly satin dresses that recall the golden age of the American 1950s.
Across the United States every year, in regional and national Barbershop contests, competing choruses and quartets offer ballads and harmonies for four voices in various styles -- jazz, Broadway show tunes and folk songs -- even comic music.
"It is truly a rewarding and yet bizarre experience. Hundreds of predominantly middle-aged women, who love to sing, transform themselves using glitter, rhinestones, hairspray and heavy makeup and take the stage," said Joanne Diamond, a singer for four years with the Capital Accord Chorus, a Barbershop choir in Washington northern suburbs.
"We squeeze into shoes that make walking a painful experience and wear undergarments to ensure that nothing jiggles.
"As we approach the stage, the discomfort of our attire dissipates, and our hearts start to race. We become 'show people,'" she said, looking on excitedly as the judges listened to a group's Gershwin ballad.
The Barbershop musical style was born in the early 20th century in black barbershops, where men harmonized in groups of four.
The lead sings the melody, with the tenor harmonizing through higher notes. The bass carries the rhythm, with the baritone completing the chord.
The essence of Barbershop comes with the harmony of a fifth note, physically created by the frequencies of the other four voices.
No vibrato, flourish or accent is allowed in order to achieve the "ringing chord," the acoustical phenomenon of perfect harmony, precision and mastery of vocal tone.
Adopted by whites after World War II, the style of a cappella harmony became an established American tradition, shepherded by two big international associations -- the Barbershop Harmony Society for men and the Sweet Adelines for women.
"It's probably one of the most original American music forms. It's four-part harmony," said Lois Murdoch, 74.
"You don't need a piano -- the only thing you need is a pitch-pipe. Your instrument is your voice," added the barbershop devotee for 46 years who belongs to a 110-member choir called Greater Harrisburg, winner of this year's northeast regional competition.
"It's a sorority of women, and it's a lot of fun."
"The goal is to be alike as much as possible so that the look, the move, the expressions, all contribute to the sound," said Maria Phillip, a Barbershop singer for 12 years.
The release last month of the documentary film "American Harmony" chronicled these singers' quest for that special sound -- the Holy Grail of Barbershop music.
"We try to bring our art form to the cutting edge of entertainment. I do the arranging of the songs for my chorus, so we always try to bring new music and we try to reach the audience with a message," said Michael Gellert, director of Harbor City Music Company, a company with about 60 members.
"We try to do it in every way that we can with our uniforms, our costumes, the energy. It's basically a show."
The genre has spread throughout Germany, England, France, Australia and Scandinavia, with foreign teams recently notching up success such as Sweden's Stockholm City Voices or the Toronto-based "North Metro" -- with 189 singers ranging in age from 21 to 89 -- which won the silver medal in 2008.
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