Here’s an idea for a reality TV show: rival high school mariachi bands in South Texas compete for the coveted title at an annual extravaganza. Think Cheer, but with guitars and trumpets; Friday Night Lights, but with embroidered skirts and sombreros. This is the premise of Cecilia Ballí ‘s new feature:
The judges disappeared into a private room to determine the winners. They had been asked to score the teams in five categories: trumpets, violins, rhythm section, vocalists and presentation. They huddled together and laid their sheets next to one another to compare notes. The judges shared their scores and positive impressions of each of the groups in the order they had performed.
Rio Grande City: “Excellent change of rhythms, well managed. … ”
Grulla: “The soloists, all of them, all of them very in tune, each one. … ”
Roma: “Trumpets, it was just two of them, but they sounded very good. … ”
Las Vegas: “I liked that they would sing pizzicatos, that’s something no one else does. …”
But there were also withering critiques. They were disappointed that one musician had sung so much she hardly played her instrument. In another group, they didn’t like that one boy wore an earring, another had long hair and a third had a nonmatching belt buckle. In the end, the scores for the top three teams were exceedingly close, with differences of less than a point and one tie. So they discussed additional factors, like the difficulty of the songs and how each group had made them feel.
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