The recent Stellenbosch University Acapella Competition (SUA Competition), which takes place annually, saw the most ticket sales in the history of the event.
This was according to Tino Viljoen, project manager for KuKo, the SU student representative council culture committee that hosted the competition. Approximately 1 700 tickets were sold for the event, which took place on 9 October, said Viljoen.
The competition had three categories, with the winners in each category being:
- Simonsberg Men’s Residence, in the men’s residences category;
- Sonop Women’s Residence, in the women’s residences category;
- Meerhoff Residence, in the mixed category.
The Stellenbosch University Acapella Competition performances ran from 16:00 to 22:00 on 9 October, and were grouped into four different stage sets, according to Tino Viljoen, project manager for KuKo, the SU student representative council culture committee that hosted the competition. The first stage was the men’s residences, and the second was for women’s residences. The third stage held the mixed categories, followed by the fourth stage, which held the finals. The audience members were required to buy separate tickets for each of the four stages at the event, added Viljoen. PHOTO: Sibulela Bolarinwa
This was also the first year that the SUA Competition could not be held at the Endler Hall, said Viljoen. One of the university’s conditions for the event taking place was that it was held off university property, he added.
“The event was therefore held at the Blaauwklippen Wine Estate, together with Blaauwklippen’s night market,” said Viljoen.
The Endler Hall on Stellenbosch University campus was deemed an unsuitable venue for the Stellenbosch University Acapella Competition, due to the fact that the use of the venue would have required the enforcement of audience restrictions, said Tino Viljoen, KuKo project manager. Furthermore, due to Covid-19 regulations, the groups would have had to perform with masks on in the hall, which would not have been ideal for a singing competition, he said. PHOTO: Sibulela Bolarinwa
Adjusting to a new medley
Holding the SUA Competition on one day saved KuKo a lot of time, as they were able to focus solely on organising one big event. This is a change from the usual structure of the competition, which involves multiple smaller events, explained Viljoen.
“There were more pitch issues than in previous years, which makes sense because they did everything in one day,” said Liam Cloete, an audience member and former SU acapella competitor, on the manner in which the contestants performed.
The Stellenbosch University Acapella Competition took place at the Blaauwklippen Wine Estate on 9 October. “It was amazing to actually experience this after it has been postponed so many times. It is nice that we got the chance and opportunity to perform live, in front of people, and be judged on all our efforts,” said Faith Ndlovu, the drummer for the acapella group at Huis Francie, a women’s residence at the Stellenbosch University Tygerberg Campus. VIDEO: Sibulela Bolarinwa
Aca-pandemic
Viljoen told MatieMedia that in order to ensure the success of the event, transparent communication was needed with the respective student community leaders involved. This was to ensure that everyone understood why there were constant changes in the event logistics that were being implemented to fit the changing Covid-19 regulations.
The SUA Competition was shut down in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the university regulations, said Viljoen.
Planning for the 2021 SUA Competition has been in place since late last year. “This is our ninth or tenth plan that we’ve come up with for [the competition],” explained Viljoen. “The event was only officially approved to proceed by SU at the end of September,” he added.
“It was weird having so much uncertainty. But our technique was basically that every week we practice. It doesn’t matter if they said the competition may be next week or it might be in a month,” said Amy Brooks, a member of the Sonop Women’s Residence acapella group, which placed first in the women’s category this year.
The Covid-19 pandemic placed a lot of strain on those student communities that usually compete, which resulted in many of the groups opting out of the competition this year, explained Viljoen.
“When we started, we were at 50 groups throughout the competition ‒ and now we are at 20,” said Viljoen.
The Sonop Women’s Residence acapella group placed first in the women’s residence category at the Stellenbosch University Acapella Competition, according to the KuKo Instagram page. KuKo is the Stellenbosch University student representative council’s culture committee. PHOTO: Sibulela Bolarinwa
Practicing under Covid-19 regulations brought new challenges, said Jana-Mari Wolfaardt, acapella leader for Helshoogte, a men’s residence at SU.
“Helshoogte didn’t get approval for us to practice in the residence. So we had to practice at 05:30 in the mornings at the tennis courts next to Simonsberg,” said Wolfaardt. “We practiced outside for about three months.”