Skip to content

Quayside Voices earns People's Choice at Yule Duel

We'll have to start calling Quayside Voices "The Little Choir That Could." The New West-based a cappella group overcame the odds to win the People’s Choice Awards at Yule Duel – the annual Gastown event, held on Dec.
quayside Voices
The members of Quayside Voices ham it up after earning People's Choice victory in the annual Yule Duel event in Gastown on Dec. 7.

We'll have to start calling Quayside Voices "The Little Choir That Could."

The New West-based a cappella group overcame the odds to win the People’s Choice Awards at Yule Duel – the annual Gastown event, held on Dec. 7, that sees choirs from all over the Lower Mainland put their vocal talents to the test for charity.

The local five-voice a cappella group tied for first place with the Notre Dame Iron Men, a high school all-boys’ choir.

Stephanie Lam, an alto with the group, emailed to let The Record know about the night’s excitement.

“It was crazy … the night was so busy and there were so many people watching, singing,” she wrote. “When it came time to announce the winners, they announced the top 2 for Vocal Performance, and we didn’t get selected. Then they announced the top 2 for Creative Performance, and we didn’t get selected.

“All that was left was People’s Choice, and we were certain we wouldn’t win because 1) we were the smallest group, 2) there were a lot of schools and parents out there, and 3) we had about 12 supporters out there, so we didn’t think we could swing the votes.”

When host Christopher Gaze announced that they’d tied for the win, Lam said, they were shocked.

“We were standing and went, ‘WHAT?’ And then everyone told us to run to the stage so we could perform! … This was easily the biggest crowd we’ve performed for, so it was absolutely amazing to have that big of a crowd cheer for us.”

Audience members could buy a ballot for a $5 donation in order to vote for their favourites.

The night raises money for May’s Place, a hospice in the Downtown Eastside. Check out www.yuleduel.com for all the details.