First off, shout out to all the teams who performed. You all ripped it in what was one of the better lineups in memory. Congrats to NSG (I see you Simz and Arun) and Alamo for placing in music, and SPD for putting on the greatest performance I've seen live. You guys held it down.
On to the review... got a lot to say. (I'll try not to mention names, but you all should be able to figure out who I talk about, as he was a huge part of our weekend. Here's a hint, x + Jagga= Pissed off Arjun Chadha)
Pre-Comp
The rubric we received was pretty straightforward, no gimmicks, just straight up dancing. It was what was expected of a traditional comp, and the teams did a great job of basing their performance off of it. We got an email about our liaisons about a week after we were accepted, but when I texted them introducing myself I did not receive a reply. I was told by teammates and several other people that since we were a hometown team, we did not need liaisons. Luckily, Sandeep eventually messaged me clearing up confusion about liaisons, which was not a huge issue to us anyways as we did not have any major requests. The deadlines for turning stuff in were straightforward as well, turn your stuff in on time and get 5 extra minutes of tech time, or lose 2 minutes for every missed deadline. Unfortunately, we turned in our intro video 6 hours late, and lost two minutes of tech time, which meant we only had 8 minutes. While this is a good incentive to push teams to turn things in on time, I personally believe that all teams should be given the same amount of time regardless of whether they are live or music. While it is a competition, it is also a show that people pay to watch. The more tech time you have, the better your performance will be, and better performances lead to better crowd reactions. While we were not fans of the deadline situation, we did not complain as it was one of the rules. Lastly, a lot of the stuff that should have been put on the rubric was put into an unorganized What'sApp chat with all of the captains. Things such as, props, lighting, mix cut offs, were all mentioned in the chat instead of the rubric or by email, and it led to a great amount of confusion for all of the teams. (Especially the music thing, it really ended up screwing teams over as they thought the minimum was 7 minutes, but due to a lack of reiteration, nearly all of the teams did not know the cut off was 7:30.)
Mixer
Before I get to the mixer, props to the committee for the gift baskets and giving wristbands to the team as people arrived at different times. (Hotel was nice by the way, front desk lady was a bitch the night of the comp, but other than that we did not have any issues) As for the mixer, the food was awful. Both the appetizers and the dinner was cold and tasted like it had been sitting out for a while. There was plenty of water though. The games that were scheduled were fun to watch and participate in, but definitely dragged on. Did not see the need for the paag tying game as you guys have done it before, but the limbo, flip cup, and dance offs were nice. (Shout out to NSG for killing the jump rope gimmick) Finally it was time to pick the lineup for the show, and the annual MCB BS began. Captains were asked to roll die and whatever team rolled the highest number got to pick their spot in the lineup. RVD wanted to go 7th in the lineup, and we were fortunate enough to get it after rolling. Unfortunately, teams tied and had tie breakers, which pushed teams from late in the lineup to early in the lineup (Hi MBT). Obviously, the captains complained about it and how it was unfair, which led to the x in the equation I mentioned before starting this review to draw the teams names out of a hat and create the lineup that way. We ended up going from 7th to 2nd in the lineup... needless to say, we were pissed. Stick to one way of picking the lineup instead of screwing teams over like that, x. The captains received their packets and the mixer ended. Practices after the mixer started at 11, and went all the way till 2 AM. While we were able to practice early because of our spot in the lineup, by eliminating some of the games from the mixer practices would have started earlier and teams would have gotten more rest. Each team got about 30 minutes to practice, and the practice space was nice.
Comp Day
Tech Time
More MCB BS. Tech time started about 15 minutes late for us, but for other teams it started a lot later. The night before tech time I sent in an updated mix and lighting requests, which were not even used during tech time. Only half of our lighting requests were used, and the mix was missing a sound effect that we wanted to use. The stage itself was nice, but the wires and speakers on the side were too close to us and it messed with our formations and props. This has been an issue with MCB before, and it needs to be fixed soon (Two years ago one of the dancers on Virsa: Our Tradition stepped on a speaker which led to him dropping his saap). Again we had 8 minutes of tech time, so we did our runthrough and got off stage without being able to fix The issues that eventually happened during our performance as well. After tech time we were taken back to the hotel by a shuttle and received shawarma's, which RVD enjoyed. I messaged the organizer asking about why our new mix and lighting cues were not used, and he apologized and said he would get on it. Sadly, the same issue happened as they were not used during our performance either.
Lineup Issues
Shan E Punjab Phulkari's vardiyan were being shipped to Detroit, but they found out they were going to receive them at 7 PM the day of the comp. They were originally going first in the lineup, but without vardis, there was no way for them to perform. The teams were asked to move a spot up in the lineup to let Shan E go last, and we disagreed instantly. Nothing against those girls, but we had just been moved from 7th to 2nd, and had no interest in moving. We did not want to go first as we would not have been ready since the person who was tying our paags had to tie his kids team’s paags as well, but the organizer said, “He will be able to do it” and “The diff. Between going 2nd and going 1st is basically 10 mins” “U cant even tie a paag in 10 mins” “Put urself in their shoes guys.. its not their fault.” We also did not want to go first for our own reasons, and eventually there was a misunderstanding with MBT going first. The organizer’s reasoning for us to move up a spot in the lineup was the whole “Save the Girl Child”. Shane E’s captain and the never quiet organizer continued talking about how disappointed they were in all of the teams for not being okay with moving up one spot, when it really was not our problem that they didn’t have their vardis. When I explained our reasoning to everyone, the organizer hit us with a nice “Lol” which lead me to ask “What’s so funny?” He then went on a rant about how we should respect bhangra and others, when we were still trying to help Shan E, even though I believed they should have shipped their vardiyan earlier or brought it with them in their suitcases. We eventually did end up going first as we did not want to be the reason a team could not perform, and since there was really no other way not to go first. We went from 7th to 2nd to 1st, and were told that lineup spots would not matter, but I’ll get back to that when I talk about how pathetic the judges meeting was.
The Show
Getting ready was a complete mess as we were in a room with two other teams. Every team needs their own room in my opinion, and there was no water for a long time as well. Getting ready is always hectic, but the lack of space and water we had made it even more difficult. Shan E’s captain spoke to us while getting ready, and we eventually agreed to go first then. The crowd turnout was alright, what I found funny was how the organizers said it was sold out; I could see a lot of empty seats even while I was performing. The show ran smoothly and it was a joy watching all of the teams rip it on stage. As I mentioned before neither our updated mix nor our updated lighting cues were used during our performance. While this wasn’t a huge issue, we were told that they would both be implemented and were disappointed when it was not. The real issues during the show came during the award ceremony. All the teams were standing on stage and watched kids, judges, and liaisons dance, anxiously waiting for placing’s. Finally the time came for placing’s and the crowd was chanting our name, as any other hometown crowd would cheer for their team. If you guys haven’t figured out by now, the “x” in the equation I posted earlier is Gary Khera, who disrespected us on stage two years in a row. For those who went to MCB last year, you may recall who we were teased with both the first and second place trophy. Gary looked at our old captain, Jagga Sohal, and said “Jagga laina?” And asked the crowd if RVD was going to win second or first. We are not a team to bash on another team who places, but when we get teased and the trophy is held right in our faces, and then given to someone else, we will obviously have an issue with it. The audience had an issue with it when Gary did the same thing to Furteelay Shokeen when they performed, and you would think that with four years of experience running a competition he would learn to give the whole “Oh you guys are the home team and they were chanting your name, it was just in the moment” thing a rest. Surely enough, the same thing happened again, as we stood their in front of our families and watched Gary give the trophy to Alamo City after asking the audience if we won it. When he was announcing first place, he looked at us, looked at Jagga, and began speaking to him again. This is where one of our dancers, Arjun Chadha, stepped in and said, “Don’t do that, just announce the placing.” Gary looked at us in confusion, and stopped talking and announced NSG as the winners. While this may not seem like an issue to a lot of you reading, when there is an audience expecting their hometown team to place, regardless of whether or not they deserved it, teasing the team and giving the trophy to someone else is humiliating. For this to happen two years in a row is inexcusable, and is a huge reason why there is a huge question mark on whether we want to come back or not. As we were leaving the venue, Gary pulled up in front of us, rolled down his window, and told Arjun not to talk to him like that and said that he does not know the “equation” between him and Jagga. (If anyone can tell us what that means, it would be appreciated. Seriously, bechara Jagga doesn’t even know what that means.) Several audience members told us what Gary did was wrong and that we should not come back to a comp where we get disrespected each year. On a side note, shout out to all the fans (especially the Furteelay guys) for cheering us on during our performance; it really meant a lot.
Judges Meeting
To conclude the night, we got to meet a panel of judges where we only got feedback from 2/5 of them. We waited in a hall for 20 minutes for our turn with the judges, where FCB, MBT, Soormay, Alamo and us got to talk about our experience. It was here that we found out that MBT was the other team that got deducted two minutes from their tech time, and that teams like FCB and Soormay were shocked we only received 8 minutes, and that some live teams got 30 minutes instead of 20. I was told that some music teams went over their times as well. While we aren’t asking for special treatment as a home team, it was interesting to hear that everyone knew about us and MBT getting 8 minutes of tech time, and other music teams getting more than 10-15. We waited for the teams to conclude their meetings, and eventually we were moved to the lobby as they wanted to prepare for the after party. Clearly rushed, we received 4 minutes to talk to the judges, and did not receive feedback from three of them. Shout out to Neeli for actually sounding like she watched our performance, instead of sitting there and agreeing with the other judges like what the other judges were doing. The first thing we heard was that our dhol was too loud, and when we asked if we were deducted points for that (even though it was not in the rubric a new point was brought up. While Gary spoke of these judges with high esteem, it did not seem like they were very knowledgeable about judging based on the critiques they gave us. After our unproductive 4 minute meeting, we decided to talk to Gary about what he did on stage with us. We simply told him not to tease us anymore. Eventually the conversation ended with us simply saying “you did this last year, the audience did not like it, and it’s insulting to us.” We received a very insulting response. Gary told us, “I’ll do what I want, this is my comp, I’ll say another teams name. I don’t need this bullshit.” He walked off after that, and sat with the judges. (He was with the judges for every team, which was pretty suspicious in my opinion) In all honesty, we weren’t surprised that we were given a response like that. Sorry we couldn’t figure your equation out.
The Afterparty
I didn’t go, but I heard cops came and it got shutdown. Most of us went out to eat and came back and saw a couple making out in the lobby. Kind of gross. Get a room, you paid for it. We were locked out of our room and sat in the hall way waiting for a room key from the bitchy front desk lady. (It was like 3 in the morning) Gary saw us sitting and walked by like he didn’t notice, thanks for the concern man.
To conclude, if you’re a team in Michigan, think twice before applying to MCB. It’s great performing in front of your home crowd, but the BS and different variables involved in Gary’s equation might not be worth it.
Shout out to FCB for offering milkshakes.
If you read all of that, hope you enjoyed. Sorry for any grammar or spelling issues.
#workhard#leturworkspeckforitself#positivevibes#ministerpretation#chooseurwordscarefully#quoteoftheday
