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OREM — "Aca-scuse me?" A Utah Valley University a cappella group that's only in its second year is hitting the road this month to compete in New York City for the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella.
You better "aca-believe it" that out of 493 a cappella groups from across the U.S., Canada and the U.K. that competed in the qualifying rounds, Bloom has been ranked No. 2 — only one point behind the top spot — and will be facing off against just nine other groups who sang their way to the international finals. The competition takes place April 27.
While they may not be doing synchronized lady dancing to a Mariah Carey chart-topper like the movie "Pitch Perfect" would have you think, Bloom has been sweeping the competition and creating a "found family" along the way.
Bloom was founded by Jerick Rose and Sicily Poulter in 2021, and the group has been making sweet music ever since. Rose and Poulter did a cappella and choir together in high school.
Once they got to college, the two friends missed singing in a group and having that feeling of community, so they decided to start Bloom. The 14-member group became an official club at UVU last year. The group quickly tried its hand at collegiate a capella competitions and had an "incredible experience."
"We had no idea honestly what to expect. A lot of us, our only idea of a cappella was 'Pitch Perfect,' so we were kind of ready for catfights and stuff like that," said Isabella Henao. "When we showed up, everyone was just amazing and super kind, and everybody was super excited for us since it was our first year competing."
Henao, a Bloom member and choreographer, said the group's members went into the competitions ready to sing and were just happy to perform together. They never anticipated winning the quarterfinals and placing fifth in the semifinals.
"So when we got first place, it was honestly like we couldn't believe it. We didn't expect anything coming out of it. We were just happy to be there. So that was awesome," she said. "It was all so incredible meeting so many groups that have been to finals before and making so many friends."
She added that the a cappella scene is a "tight-knit community" and said Bloom members keep in touch with the friends they make at all the competitions.
Road to the finals
Poulter said with the experience the group gained in making it to the semifinals last year, Bloom knew what to anticipate at the a cappella competitions.
"It helped everyone get in a good headspace for competition, which helped the group feel really comfortable when we competed this year, which went a really long way," she said. "I really do feel like everyone in the group this year has been so committed and so excited, and that has just done so much for our success."
In last year's competitions, Bloom got outside help for staging and choreographing. But this year, Henao said they wanted everything to be student-organized.
"It really feels like a passion project, like everybody helps out. Everybody is 100% committed," she said. "I think that's really one of the ways we prepared, was just to make sure we all had a say and advice going into our set this year."
Bloom swept the quarterfinals in Colorado Springs in February, where they received first place and won all four specialty awards — outstanding soloist, outstanding arrangement, outstanding vocal percussion and outstanding choreography — a feat only one other a cappella group accomplished this year.
At the end of March, Bloom won first place at the semifinals in Scottsdale, Arizona, and won outstanding soloist and arrangement, securing a spot at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella finals. Bloom is the first a cappella group from UVU to make it to the finals.
Unlike the Barden Bellas and Treblemakers, who often competed new sets at each competition, most a cappella groups use the same 10-minute arrangement during the competition year, as it's unrealistic to prepare new music and choreography each time. Sometimes the group will make adjustments or changes, though, to improve their set between competitions.
Rose creates Bloom's arrangements, and Henao said he is great at picking unique songs that aren't likely to be sung by other groups at the same show. Henao and Poulter do most of the choreography and staging, but all members of the group contribute with ideas.
"We're definitely still keeping up those rehearsals. We were the last semifinal to compete, so a lot of teams have had two months to prepare. We have 2 1/2 weeks to prepare, so we're just really working hard and rehearsing and just, you know, practice makes permanent," Henao said.
While perfecting their set, Bloom is figuring out how to get the whole group to New York City and setting up fundraisers* to cover the group's travel expenses. All sales for Bloom's show in May will also go toward paying for the finals.
"We don't compete to win; we compete to share our love and give an emotion to the audience. Of course, it's nice to win," Henao joked. "Every competition ... we left it all on that stage — we got our message through. It's very flattering to us to be able to proceed to finals, but the No. 1 objective of this group isn't to win, it's to share an experience with people."
A found family
Henao said Bloom has become a "found family" for her. She had plans to move back to California when she was told to audition for Bloom. After auditioning, she ended up canceling all plans and decided to stay.
"Everybody gets along so well. Every day we come to rehearsal, and it's such a safe space — like everybody is comfortable to cry in front of each other, which is kind of an experience I feel like a lot of people don't really have," she said.
Poulter agreed and said it's so special to be part of a group with people who love doing the same thing she loves.
"Being able to sing with a group of singers is like, this sounds so cliche, but it really is like so magical, and it's so fun," Poulter said.
Rose said everyone in Bloom is so talented and participating in the group "quenches a thirst" he had.
"I love Bloom. It's just such an electrifying atmosphere. That's what we were longing for when we first started this group, and it's so incredible we were able to achieve that especially so quickly," he said.
