Opportunes Net Top Prize

The 1996 documentary, When They Were Kings, which recounts Muhammad Ali's 1974 upset victory over George Forman, netted an Academy Award.

And while they received no gold statute, the Harvard Opportunes snagged their own top prize for their song rendition of "When We Were Kings"--The Contemporary A Cappella Society of America's award for "Best Mixed Collegiate Song."

"This is the highest honor one can receive in the a cappella industry," said Opportunes Business Manager Jevan J. Soo '00. "It's like a Grammy."

The song will close the Best of College A Cappella (BOCA) 2000 CD, an annually released collection of the best tracks in college a cappella for the year.

"The judges called it an 'A-list' song, which means they only had to listen to it once before deciding to include it in the BOCA CD," Soo said.

According to Soo, the piece was selected out of "well over a hundred CDs" submitted this year and evaluated by a panel of professional a cappella singers and critics.

Jason R. McNeely '00 and Kate D. Earls '00 were the soloists. Roy Kosuge '99, a Crimson editor, arranged the piece.

The song was originally performed by Brian McKnight and Diana King as part of a documentary on the life of Mohammed Ali. Kosuge's arrangement reflects a slightly different interpretation.

"It now has an upbeat groove to it with a tight harmony between the duet parts," said Opportunes Music Director Jody E. Flader '02. "We sing it with sort of a soulful R&B style. The original was more chill with lots of percussion."

The song reflects upon Ali's boxing career and is "meant to look back on the highs and lows of life," Soo said.

Flader gives credit to last year's music director, Kosuge.

"He does a great job of captivating the essence of the song," she said. "It's sort of uplifting."

For her solo in True Story , Christie F. Yih '00 has also been nominated for Best Mixed Collegiate Soloist. Every Opportunes CD that has been released has been nominated for one or more Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award, but this is the first win in the best song category for the group.