By REGINA IANNIZZOTTO
and IAN BENJAMIN
Mackenzie Cohn named Outstanding Soloist for her performance during ‘Turning Tables’
The Saint Rose all-female a cappella group The Girls Next Door won the International Championship of A Cappella Northeast Regional Saturday night. Member Mackenzie Cohn also won Outstanding Soloist at the competition held at Boston University.
“We’ve been working for months to prepare for the ICCAs,” said member Katherine Butera.
Other group members shared their enthusiasm about the achievement. “I keep replaying the moment over and over in my mind trying to convince myself it really happened,” said Mercedes Arrilaga.
Fellow member Danielle Intschert shared similar feelings of amazement. “I’m still waiting to wake up and find out we haven’t competed yet.”
The group sang a cappella versions of “Carry on Wayward Son,” originally by Kansas, “City” by Sara Barielles and “Turning Tables” by Adele, during which Cohn sang her award-winning solo.
“When Mackenzie Cohn sang ‘Turning Tables’ the whole crowd was silent,” said Girls Next Door fan and freshman Corrie Aldrich. “I’m not going to lie—it gave me chills. I had a few tears.”
After the performances—of which there were eight, each of which was 12 minutes per set—the participating groups gathered on stage. When the host made the announcement that The Girls Next Door had won, “I immediately jumped out of my seat, and began screaming,” said Amelia Renaud. “After their encore, the fans, all ten of us, ran up to their room to see them. There was jumping, hugging, screaming, and a lot of happy tears.”
Aldrich and Renaud were part of a small contingent of fans that had the opportunity to accompany the a cappella troupe as The Girls Next Door had commissioned a small bus for the occasion. When the seating was arranged it was found that ten extra seats were left. Looking to fill the space, the group asked their fans if any would like to accompany them to Boston.
The girls hope to commission a bigger bus to accommodate more fans for the upcoming ICCA semifinal performance. The next competition will take place at the Kresge Auditorium at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge on Saturday, March 24 at 8 p.m. The troupe says they will be sticking to their tried-and-true songs, but are looking to polish their set in the meantime.
“Since we are performing in front of different judges, [we will be] cleaning up our songs a bit and working in a little more choreography,” said Allison Bruso.
Local college a cappella group Serendipity, from the University at Albany, also performed in the competition. They won an award for choreography.
The members of The Girls Next Door are Mercedes Arrillaga, Amelia Bach, Sarah Bartlett, Alli Bruso, Katherine Butera, Mackenzie Cohn, Liz Corey, Cynthia Crudale, Val Cusa, Dani Intschert, Amber Kida, Alex Kouloriotis, Joleen Loliscio, Katrina Pecorella, Stacy Spindler and Elizabeth Tryon.
Some of the fans are already planning on accompanying the troupe on their trip to Cambridge. “These girls are very close to me, and I have been going to […] their gigs since freshmen year,” said Renaud. “You bet I’ll be there in March when they compete at Semi-Finals!”
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Thank you so much for this incredible coverage and wonderful story! We really appreciate it. Thank you again.
-Liz Corey & the Girls Next Door