Berklee 2015

This is long overdue. I know. Sue me.

Nonetheless, I thought I'd fill you in on the mandatory Berklee post.

Yes, this was a whileeeee ago, meaning January 31st, but I think I still have the right to write about it :) I will admit, seeing as it was so long ago, some of the details are quite foggy and I might not be able to go into as much detail as I normally would (lucky for you guys haha).

If any of you are looking for a better relay of that wonderful day's events, click here.

Saturday, January 31st came quicker than any of us could have anticipated.

After months and months and months of endless rehearsals, and a week's worth of tireless run-throughs, EHX felt more confident and yet more nervous than they'd ever been before. We'd learned to dance our hearts out with Mais Que Nada, leave our heart on the stage with Run To You, and picture the flawless Tito with Señor Blues. Bright and early, we were ready to roll.

I sat with T on the way there, who managed to show me the entire soundtrack for Broadway's Catch Me If You Can (it's safe to say he had me humming every song on the list...)

The rest of the crew was scattered about the back of the bus as per usual. Tradition is tradition, after all. I managed to snag T's hat, play numerous rounds of Heads Up, take sneaky pictures of sleeping crew members and fall into at least three laugh attacks before we arrived to our very lovely destination.

I'd like to say I helped by supervising (everyone else seemed perfectly under control carrying things, so why not?).

We made it to our usual wait spot and unloaded all our baggage. Papa Kerr gave us the run through and handed us programs for the rest of the day before Emma and Claire, our faithful fangirls, proceeded to take off their sweatshirts and show us their clever roadie T-shirts: fluorescent pink tank tops with the words "EHX ROAD CREW" in iron print. Let me just say you two rocked those outfits ;)

I have to say, I can't remember much of the events that happened before our performance. It was all a foggy blur of scenery and food and meeting people and loud sounds that resembled music but not quite and coffee and Tom and The Chileans and uniforms but most of all: nerves. I couldn't focus on anything for the next few hours, now and then cursing the fact that we had a later slot.

And then it was go time.

I was picking at my dress and wiping the sweat off my hands when the first chords of Mais echoed through the room. Scanning the cramped area, I remembered to force a smile on my face, trying to erase the nerves. I spotted my godmother in the audience, which was exciting, although there were no signs of my brother, YD, or his girlfriend, Hannah. They promised they'd be there and I knew they were running late so I hoped they'd make it for at least one of the songs. My solo came up and of course my voice had to crack, but I mean, it happens. I focused on Claire and Tom, who sat front row. Thank you guys for letting me forget everything and just enjoy myself.

Next came Run. I swear, you could've heard a pin drop. Mr. Bentley was fantastic accompaniment (obviously) although of course we did miss Rosie, who couldn't be with us due to an injured wrist. I have to admit, Run was my favorite of the three. Performing it with you all was a real privilege and I hope someday I can get that same feeling again, the same unity and emotion. We put our hearts on our sleeves with that one. I could tell from the tears in people's eyes ;)

And last but not least, Señor Blues. T and I had a great time teasing each other through the song and I could tell C was enjoying pretending to talk about himself... XD Only joking...maybe ;)

We welcomed the applause and listened to what the judges had to say (all wonderful things, thank goodness!) Sophia won the Judges Choice second year in a row, of course, and we burst out of those doors feeling grander than ever. I felt like flying.

That was the best we had ever performed our set. And I was and am so very very proud of every single one of you guys. Even our roadies, who made the experience all the better ;)

After unloading our stuff again, we left to go nom. That was when YD and Hannah finally decided to show up. Hannah felt really bad for missing the performance; YD, not so much... haha So they hung around for a bit before leaving to go have dinner and we all said goodbye.

The Award Ceremony creeped up on us pretty quickly and I knew without a doubt that the nerves were back. Time couldn't have ticked any slower as we waited for our category, V2 to be called. I was probably breaking Gibb's hand more and more by the second (sorry about that...).

Honorable Mention was called. Not us.

The lady in charge of announcing the winners was taking as long as she possibly could to announce third place.

I saw her lips form and "E" and immediately went into denial. It's like my mind would refuse to believe that Enharmonix had, in fact, won third place. It took asking four different people (despite the screaming cheers of the rest of EHX seated behind me) who had won for me to understand that we had actually made it.

We made it. We actually did it this time.

After months and months and months we were able to say that we'd really left it all out there and we did everything we possibly could have to make it an unforgettable performance. Thank you guys, From the bottom of my heart.

I couldn't stop shaking or squealing or laughing or crying and I don't even remember the other places being announced because I was so caught up in my own excitement. Sue me for being absolutely ecstatic.

I only remember frolicking, yes frolicking, down the hall, down the escalator, across the room to go give Papa Kerr the biggest hug of all time.

T'was an amazing moment, to say the least :)

On the way back, we made our usual trip to Murder King, and celebrated by jamming at the top of our lungs. At least I did. It's safe to say I completely and quite literally lost my voice on that trip back haha! There were the usual ones, Bohemian Rhapsody, We Are Young, and Uptown Funk (which I will forever associate with the legendary Enharmonix) but then we decided to go down memory lane and belt High School Musical and Jonas Brothers songs... I do not regret a single thing.

All I have to say is that was a pretty spectacular day and I was so lucky to spend it with all of you <3 I could not have asked for a greater group of people to be with on such a special occasion :)

I love you all so very, very much. Keep rockin'. Stay classy.

Hasta la proxima!

Much love xoxo

Maya