Back By Popular Demand

Tonight, the Folk Choir, band, and cheerleaders performed with a selection of Irish people ranging from not-really-famous-but-we'll-call-them-that-anyway to pretty-darn-famous at Notre Dame's Welcome Home Pep Rally to a sold-out O2 Centre. It was, put simply, incredible. (My life continues to not be real.) Hopefully, some of you reading this watched it live on YouTube! You could do that, because we are very important and were the featured video on YouTube's home page tonight. [Note: by "we" I clearly mean the Folk Choir. Just us. I'm certainly not referring to the Folk Choir and Joe Biden, because he was not there. The statement that he was going to be there was a vicious rumor or, as I like to call it, lie. Thanks, Anuna.] The show began at 8:30 Dublin time, but the performers, of course, had to be there far earlier for rehearsals and such. Given the length of the show, we were there for a grand total of 12 hours. In these twelve hours, many wonderful things occurred - so many wonderful things, in fact, that you even compile a list of them. A list of, perhaps, the...top nine of them. 

And folks, compile a Top 9 I have. (Mostly because everyone has been telling me all day to write one, and threatening unspeakable violence against me should I not write one. So.) 

9. The following moment during our first rehearsal of "Fionghualla" with Anuna, the famouser-than-us Irish choir we sang with: *Anuna director gives pitch* *Anuna soloist comes in, apparently flat* Anuna director: "Could you sing the note I gave you, please?" *Anuna soloist tries again* Director: "Could you sing the note I gave you, please?" *Anuna soloist tries one more time* Director: "Could you sing the note I gave you, please?" 

8. That time when my friends and I asked the High Kings for directions to the merchandise stand, because someone in our group (cough Lizzy Lou cough) did not realize that they were pretty-darn-famous people and not, in fact, custodial staff. 

7. The following conversation backstage before the show: 

Steven C. Warner (our Folk Choir director): "One family gave $450,000 to bring us and the band and everyone over here." 

My dear friend @NashtyGetNashty: "That's more than my house." 

Me: "That's more than my house twice." 

YEAH THAT'S RIGHT I JUST INCLUDED MY OWN JOKE IN MY TOP 9; I DO WHAT I WANT. 

6. That time that I did my homework during our downtime. Ha ha, just kidding, that never happened. 

5. Each and every band rehearsal, during which we geeked out completely, despite having seen them, eh, a couple of times before. 

5B. Reuniting with my two favorite Vision mentors/ND trumpets. Normally, this would rank at about an 8 on a Top 9, but this time, IT WAS IN IRELAND. 

4. The host's witty banter with actual famous person Martin Short. Why was Martin Short there, you ask? Good question. Well, what did he say, then? Haven't the foggiest. I could, however, see his ten-foot-wide mouth moving on the Jumbotron from backstage, and, judging from crowd reaction, it certainly seemed funny. 

3. That time during one of the band's rehearsals when we were loitering in the back of the arena with some Anuna guys, doing all of the game day cheers, and earned the following comments from our Irish friends: "What are you all saying?" Go Irish, Beat Navy, of course! "Oh..we heard 'Go Pirates, Be Naked.'" Hm. No, Anuna guys, that was not what we were saying...but you can be sure it will be from now on! 

2. The entirety of our "You Raise Me Up" performance with relatively-famous guy Anthony Kearns. Apparently, we couldn't even remotely be heard, but whatever. It was awesome. My favorite part of this was when none of us cried. Oh, wait.

1. Our entire time onstage for the finale with the pretty-darn-famous High Kings and the not-famous-but-famous-enough-for-a-Wikipedia-page-apparently Notre Dame Marching Band. My favorite part of this one was looking out just as the Alma Mater started to see two of my dearest friends from Howard Hall and one of the few other people in the world who is both Domer and Berry - the girl who gave me my first experience staying overnight in a Notre Dame dorm - sitting, swaying, and singing along just a few rows from the stage. And again, here, I didn't cry. Oh, wait.

So tonight was the best ever, and tomorrow is the game. For the sake of avoiding brutal embarrassment for both the Notre Dame family and seemingly everyone in Ireland, we had better win.