Falsetto event contestants hope to win on a high note
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer
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"It's 'Ikona,'" he said, bursting into the song. "I learned that one years ago, and it's a joke with me — I'll start a falsetto number, but won't finish it. My heavens, I know maybe 100 falsetto songs, but only the first half. So I don't have a hana hou."
No matter.
As host of the Aloha Festivals contest Saturday at the Hawai'i Theatre, Shaner needn't know lyrics for any particular song.
His job is to sashay contestants on and off the stage, with the winner ultimately getting a crack at a Hula Records contract. Past winners have fared pretty well; they include Moses Kamealoha, whose professional name is Moke Boy; Sam Keli'iho'omalu; Chauncy Bermodez of Ko'u Mana'o; and Kala'i Stern, formerly of 'A'lea.
"I've been listening to falsetto from the time I was a kid growing up," said Shaner, who with Brickwood Galuteria hosts the No. 2 morning drive show on KINE-FM. "I recall 'Blue Darling,' sung by Boyce Rodrigues, at Watertown (a club that used to be on Ala Moana). Then, there have been the contemporary guys, Dennis Pavao of Hui 'Ohana, and Tony Conjugacion."
He said the falsetto contest always has been a guy thing. By tradition, the genre — leo ki'eki'e in Hawaiian — mandates vocalizing in the upper register, with pitches that may seem artificial but are powerful.
| • | Frank B. Shaner Falsetto Contest
An Aloha Festivals event 7 p.m. Saturday Hawai'i Theatre $20, $25, $30; $5 discount per ticket with Aloha Festivals ribbon 528-0506 Also: The contest will be taped for telecast at 7 p.m. Aug. 23 on KFVE-TV |
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Shaner's inspiration for the event was Clyde "Kindy" Sproat's Big Island competition, featuring not only falsetto but also storytelling. Shaner previously entered Sproat's event but didn't win. This year's Sproat event is at 1 p.m. Aug. 25 at the Outrigger Waikoloa Resort.
Record producer Donald P. "Flip" McDiarmid III, whose Hula Records label previously has released two compilations of falsetto contest winners from here and on the Big Island, is debuting a third volume, "The Spirit of the Master (Ka 'Uhane O Ka Loea)" this weekend.
"The CDs help the Aloha Festivals, which use the album as a promotional tool to enhance different events," said McDiarmid. "We pretty much donate (proceeds) to them and consider ourselves as a festival sponsor."
The first two compilations earned Na HoKu Hanohano Awards, he said.
Actually, Shaner performs "Blue Darling" on the third falsetto disc, so he knows a second tune. "But I know so many half-songs; I can segue from one into another. Maybe that's a concept for an album."
