What's the Princess Pop Choir singing these days?

[jasbo49]

Can anyone report what songs the pop choirs are singing since the Sound of Music supposedly went away?

 

I've only signed up for it twice. The first was a Panama Canal trip in December 2015, the year of Princess' and the movie's mutual 50th anniversary. And the second time was this year (Crown to Mexico in late February), when for some reason we were still doing Sound of Music, though the anniversary was over.

 

I found it fun to be part of a team and doing something "constructive." And I enjoyed most of the SOM material, but I might be ready to move on to some new tunes.

 

So, what are they singing now? Thanks in advance.

 

Jim

[jasbo49]

Well, I guess this is not a real hot topic. So I'll try one bump and then give up. Any other Princess Pop Choir participants out there? Or even if you just watched.

 

Jim

[cflutist]

In April 4/2 - 4/17 they were still singing songs from the Sound of Music on the Grand Princess.

[shredie]

Seems to me it's always "Sweet Caroline." :)

[Alaskan Joe]

Can anyone report what songs the pop choirs are singing since the Sound of Music supposedly went away?

 

I've only signed up for it twice. The first was a Panama Canal trip in December 2015, the year of Princess' and the movie's mutual 50th anniversary. And the second time was this year (Crown to Mexico in late February), when for some reason we were still doing Sound of Music, though the anniversary was over.

 

I found it fun to be part of a team and doing something "constructive." And I enjoyed most of the SOM material, but I might be ready to move on to some new tunes.

 

So, what are they singing now? Thanks in advance.

 

Jim

 

Is this something that the Princess cruise line does or guest?? I Love The Sound of Music. You said "I've only signed up for it twice" so something I could sign up for as a guest aboard the Ruby??

[paul929207]

It was Sound of Music on the Royal in February/March

[pompeii]

Is this something that the Princess cruise line does or guest?? I Love The Sound of Music. You said "I've only signed up for it twice" so something I could sign up for as a guest aboard the Ruby??

 

Yes, Pop Choir is an informal choir group that passengers sign up for. Watch for it in the Patter. You practice a few times during the cruise then give a performance in the atrium at the end of the cruise. I've done it several times and it's always fun. I've done Sound of Music only once (because I cruised only once last year) but it was my favorite, so I hope they continue it.

[Alaskan Joe]

Yes, Pop Choir is an informal choir group that passengers sign up for. Watch for it in the Patter. You practice a few times during the cruise then give a performance in the atrium at the end of the cruise. I've done it several times and it's always fun. I've done Sound of Music only once (because I cruised only once last year) but it was my favorite, so I hope they continue it.

 

Sweet I will look for on the Ruby in December, sounds fun. I think the Ruby has "The Voice of the Ocean" going to have to check that out also.

[tully07]

They weren't doing the Sound of Music last week on the Regal. They were back to the same old songs - Under the Boardwalk; Sweet Caroline; Oh What a Night; can't Take My Eyes Off You. No more Sound of Music -- [emoji45]

[QuilterGirl]

Hubby and I were on the final Hawaii cruise on the Star Princess this spring (April/May), and I was in the Pop Choir. There were two sessions - one on the way over, and one on the way back - and we did two concerts. Each had different songs.

 

Westbound:

-Waterloo

-Isn't She Lovely

-Blue Bayou

-That's Amore

-It's Not Unusual

-Sweet Caroline (finale)

 

Eastbound:

-Oh What a Night

-We Are the Champions

We were to have sung "Eye of the Tiger" but didn't have enough men for this men-only song, so the much-better

-Hit the Road Jack was substituted

-Can't Take My Eyes Off of You

-How Deep is Your Love

The finale was to have been the theme from "The Love Boat" but the choir members strongly vetoed it. Not only was it not known to a lot of them, but it seemed rather self-serving. Instead, we did Sweet Caroline again.

 

When it was determined that something needed to be subbed for Eye of the Tiger, several choir members asked the choir director about doing songs from The Sound of Music. The director stated that Princess Cruises purchases the rights to do these Pop Choir songs, and the rights to SOM songs ended around the end of April.

 

Let me stress that you don't need to have a great voice to participate. You don't need to be able to read music (only words are provided) - think "group karaoke." You mostly need to want to have FUN!

 

If you think you might enjoy being a part of Pop Choir, consider bringing black and white clothing along on your cruise - doesn't need to be anything special, but that is generally the requested outfit for the performance. (Not to worry if you don't have that, but you would try to get as close to it as you can.) Many folks on our cruise wore some combination of their formal wear - white tops, dark bottoms. We had five rehearsals of 45 minutes each, for each concert, but often they are fewer and/or longer. Our rehearsals were in the Wheelhouse Bar, but I've had them on other cruises in the Chapel, or in some other lounge, or in a little conference room. Rehearsals are on sea days, or if it is a short port call, perhaps on a port day. Our performances incorporated a little choreography (I've done Pop Choir with none, and with more), and were held in the Piazza (yes! right where the paid entertainers perform) at 5 PM (but other cruises, they've been at other times). We were each give a "Princess Pop Choir" pin beforehand, and a glass of champagne afterwards. (Being as this was a Hawaiian cruise, we were each also given a colorful plastic lei to wear.) Your family and friends can line the railings and stairs and take videos and photos of your performance - and of course can be the ones to get the crowd going on audience participation in "Sweet Caroline"!

Edited May 24, 2016 by QuilterGirl

[Orangefan]

They weren't doing the Sound of Music last week on the Regal. They were back to the same old songs - Under the Boardwalk; Sweet Caroline; Oh What a Night; can't Take My Eyes Off You. No more Sound of Music -- [emoji45]

 

I have been in the Pop Choir and I enjoy doing Sweet Caroline and the old songs. Sound of Music not so much !

Sali

[OCruisers]

We were on Emerald Princess for a B2B2B in January and there was no Pop Choir. One of our cruise pals was looking forward to participating ....

My favorite they have done in the past is "Sweet Caroline".

[Jetswdo]

I enjoyed participating in the pop choir at the end of Dec. Panama Canal Cruise- and will be doing on the Regal a short 7 night Canada cruise. There is only one sea day, so wondering whether there just isn't any pop choir on this kind of cruise.

[jasbo49]

Hubby and I were on the final Hawaii cruise on the Star Princess this spring (April/May), and I was in the Pop Choir. There were two sessions - one on the way over, and one on the way back - and we did two concerts. Each had different songs.

 

Westbound:

-Waterloo

-Isn't She Lovely

-Blue Bayou

-That's Amore

-It's Not Unusual

-Sweet Caroline (finale)

 

Eastbound:

-Oh What a Night

-We Are the Champions

We were to have sung "Eye of the Tiger" but didn't have enough men for this men-only song, so the much-better

-Hit the Road Jack was substituted

-Can't Take My Eyes Off of You

-How Deep is Your Love

The finale was to have been the theme from "The Love Boat" but the choir members strongly vetoed it. Not only was it not known to a lot of them, but it seemed rather self-serving. Instead, we did Sweet Caroline again.

 

When it was determined that something needed to be subbed for Eye of the Tiger, several choir members asked the choir director about doing songs from The Sound of Music. The director stated that Princess Cruises purchases the rights to do these Pop Choir songs, and the rights to SOM songs ended around the end of April.

 

Let me stress that you don't need to have a great voice to participate. You don't need to be able to read music (only words are provided) - think "group karaoke." You mostly need to want to have FUN!

 

If you think you might enjoy being a part of Pop Choir, consider bringing black and white clothing along on your cruise - doesn't need to be anything special, but that is generally the requested outfit for the performance. (Not to worry if you don't have that, but you would try to get as close to it as you can.) Many folks on our cruise wore some combination of their formal wear - white tops, dark bottoms. We had five rehearsals of 45 minutes each, for each concert, but often they are fewer and/or longer. Our rehearsals were in the Wheelhouse Bar, but I've had them on other cruises in the Chapel, or in some other lounge, or in a little conference room. Rehearsals are on sea days, or if it is a short port call, perhaps on a port day. Our performances incorporated a little choreography (I've done Pop Choir with none, and with more), and were held in the Piazza (yes! right where the paid entertainers perform) at 5 PM (but other cruises, they've been at other times). We were each give a "Princess Pop Choir" pin beforehand, and a glass of champagne afterwards. (Being as this was a Hawaiian cruise, we were each also given a colorful plastic lei to wear.) Your family and friends can line the railings and stairs and take videos and photos of your performance - and of course can be the ones to get the crowd going on audience participation in "Sweet Caroline"!

 

QuilterGirl: What a fantastic run-down. Anyone who hasn't done this but might be interested gets a good idea of how it works here. One of the things I found interesting was that the two directors I had were really different and had their own arrangements for some of the songs, even some different songs.

 

One seemed really focused on doing it her way, and the other was really open to chorus members helping shape the performances, adding harmonies wherever they saw fit. Guess which one we liked best.

 

Jim

[QuilterGirl]

Uh, ditto Jim/jasbo49. We had two directors as well. "Her way" was under the guise of "our way," but we also totally preferred the high energy and positive strokes from the more "open to doing whatever works for us" leader. Sadly for the "her way" director (but happily for the choristers), she got laryngitis halfway through her stint and we ended up with the more open-to-suggestion guy for both gigs.

 

Since this was a longer cruise with two performances, the first performance was videotaped and part of it was incorporated into the souvenir cruise DVD one can purchase. It was also shown on cabin TVs. Don't know if they can pull off this video thing when the performance is the day before final disembarkation.

 

(On this Vancouver BC/Hawaii/Vancouver BC cruise, the majority of the passengers were Canadian. It would appear that they don't "get" the audience participation aspect of Sweet Caroline, in spite of being invited and encouraged to join in. Probably they are not into baseball and Boston as much as US passengers.)

 

Sali/Orangefan, I agree with you about the SOM tunes....water under the bridge, but they weren't as interesting to audiences OR singers, I thought, as some of the more "pop" tunes traditionally done. And, as a final item, I do wish they would take "It's Not Unusual" off the playlist - the lyrics are really stupid IMO.

Edited May 24, 2016 by QuilterGirl

[scienceteacher]

QuilterGirl: What a fantastic run-down. Anyone who hasn't done this but might be interested gets a good idea of how it works here. One of the things I found interesting was that the two directors I had were really different and had their own arrangements for some of the songs, even some different songs.

 

One seemed really focused on doing it her way, and the other was really open to chorus members helping shape the performances, adding harmonies wherever they saw fit. Guess which one we liked best.

 

Jim

 

I tried out the choir on our Panama Canal cruise last November. I dropped out because the director wasn't interested in taking ideas from the choir members. I would have continued but we had many people who were very musically talented but the director was not taking any ideas. It just wasn''t worth my time. I might try again this year.

[Alaskan Joe]

They weren't doing the Sound of Music last week on the Regal. They were back to the same old songs - Under the Boardwalk; Sweet Caroline; Oh What a Night; can't Take My Eyes Off You. No more Sound of Music -- [emoji45]

 

Those songs are even better :)

[jasbo49]

Since this was a longer cruise with two performances, the first performance was videotaped and part of it was incorporated into the souvenir cruise DVD one can purchase. It was also shown on cabin TVs. Don't know if they can pull off this video thing when the performance is the day before final disembarkation.

On our December canal cruise, the performance was on the second to last full day, and they incorporated the whole thing into the Reflections video. On our February Mexico cruise, it was on the last day, but the ship's head videographer taped it and sold copies for $10. Not a bad deal considering.

 

I tried out the choir on our Panama Canal cruise last November. I dropped out because the director wasn't interested in taking ideas from the choir members. I would have continued but we had many people who were very musically talented but the director was not taking any ideas. It just wasn''t worth my time. I might try again this year.

Sure, give it a try next time. The directors are different, the singers are different. On our last cruise, we had several people who were in choruses and barbershop quartet groups, but several people like me, shower singers.

 

And I guess you're using the phrase "tried out" casually. Just so everyone knows, you sign up and you show up. No one gets "cut."

 

Edit: P.S.: Oops, sorry ST. I see now that you said "tried out the choir," not tried out for.

 

Jim

Edited May 24, 2016 by jasbo49

[Jetswdo]

She had a beautiful opera voice. But she was "too" into training your voice, I just wanted to have fun- I'm a great shower singer as well. I hated the way she did some of the Sound of Music songs-- hard for me to hit those high notes. So I played along mouthing those notes. When we performed in the atrium, I sang the way I felt most comfortable-- let's just say I don't think she was too happy about it!

[karen arnold]

I love going in the pop choir, it is lots of fun.

[shepp]

I keep hoping for "Sweeney Todd," and am always disappointed.

 

Or at least "Rocky Horror."

[CineGraphic]

Last December on the Coral they sang some tunes from Grease

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[jasbo49]

Last December on the Coral they sang some tunes from Grease

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

I (the OP) am on the Royal now, and that's what we're doing: Grease.

 

Jim

[kckitties]

Is there any choreography? (I hope not!)

[tgwabd]

I heard they did a great rendition of Iron Butterfly's "In a Gadda da vida......it was awesome.....