Fight song

In American and Canadian sports, a fight song is a song associated with a team. In both professional and amateur sports, fight songs are a popular way for fans to cheer for their team. Although the term "fight song" is primarily used in America, the use of fight songs is commonplace around the world, but they may be referred to as team anthems, team songs or games songs in other countries, such as Australia, Mexico and New Zealand. Fight songs differ from stadium anthems, used for similar purposes, in that they are usually written specifically for the purposes of the team, whereas stadium anthems are not.

Hundreds of colleges have fight songs, some of which are over a century old. The oldest collegiate fight song in the United States is Boston College's "For Boston", composed by T.J. Hurley in 1885.

One of the oldest games songs in Australia is Melbourne Grammar's 'Play Together, Dark Blue Twenty', which is sung to the tune of ‘The March of the Men of Harlech’. It was composed by Ambrose John Wilson who was principal of the school from 1885-1893. This is not to be confused with the school hymn 'Ora et Labora' which is now sung to the tune of 'Jerusalem'.

Rachel Platten

Rachel Ashley Platten (born May 20, 1981) is an American singer and songwriter. Her third studio album and major-label debut, Wildfire, reached number five in the United States and received generally mixed reviews. The album spawned singles "Fight Song" and "Stand by You". "Fight Song" peaked at number six on Billboard Hot 100 and topped the UK Singles Chart. "Stand By You" so far peaked at number thirty-seven on Billboard Hot 100 becoming her second Top 40 hit.

Early life

Rachel Ashley Platten was born on May 20, 1981 to Jewish parents Paul and Pamela Platten (née Jabush). She was born in New York City but grew up in Newton Centre, Massachusetts. She studied classical piano from the age of 5 and then took up guitar in high school. She attended Buckingham Browne and Nichols for high school, where she sang in the school's singing group. At Trinity College, she was a member of the Trinitones, the college's all-female a cappella group. As a part of a study abroad program, she went to Trinidad to do an internship at a diplomat's office and at a record label. While she was there, she sang back up for a friend's band in front of over 80,000 people at the International Soca Monarch finals in 2002. Platten graduated from Trinity College with a degree in international relations in 2003. According to Platten, from that moment on she knew she had to pursue music full-time. She then moved to New York City's Greenwich Village where she cut her teeth playing with a Prince and Sly and the Family Stone cover band called Dayz of Wild. In 2012, it was reported that she married Kevin Lazan in a Jewish ceremony. She performed her solo music around the Village and eventually began touring the country. She has worked with numerous charities, Musicians on Call (where she sings bedside to hospital patients) and she is an ambassador for Music Unites. She also works with the Ryan Seacrest Foundation and was an ambassador for Below the Line (a call to end world poverty).

The Voice

The Voice may refer to:

Music

Albums

Songs

Radio and television

The Voice (TV series)

The Voice is a reality television singing competition franchise. It is based on the reality singing competition The Voice of Holland, which was originally created by Dutch television producer John de Mol. Many other countries have adapted the format and began airing their own versions since 2011. It has become a rival to the Idols franchise and The X Factor.

History

John de Mol, creator of Big Brother, first created The Voice concept with Dutch singer Roel van Velzen. The show distinguishes itself as different from The X Factor and Idols as The Voice primarily focuses on singing ability and prowess of an artist alone.

On September 17, 2010, The Voice of Holland began to air on RTL 4 with Angela Groothuizen, Roel van Velzen, Nick & Simon, and Jeroen van der Boom as the mentor-judges (dubbed as "coaches") of the show. The show proved to be an instant success in the Netherlands.

The format was later sold to different countries.

Format

Contestants are aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. The show's format features four stages of competition. The first is the blind auditions, in which the four coaches, all noteworthy recording artists, listen to the contestants in chairs facing away from the stage so as to avoid seeing them. If a coach likes what they hear from that contestant, they press a button to rotate their chairs to signify that they are interested in working with that contestant. If more than one coach presses their button, the contestant chooses the coach he or she wants to work with. The blind auditions end when each coach has a set number of contestants to work with. Coaches will dedicate themselves to developing their singers mentally, musically and in some cases physically, giving them advice, and sharing the secrets of their success.

Song

A song is a single (and often standalone) work of music intended to be sung by the human voice with distinct and fixed pitches and patterns using sound and silence and a variety of forms that often include the repetition of sections. Written words created specifically for music or for which music is specifically created, are called lyrics. If a pre-existing poem is set to composed music in classical music it is an art song. Songs that are sung on repeated pitches without distinct contours and patterns that rise and fall are called chants. Songs in a simple style that are learned informally are often referred to as folk songs. Songs that are composed for professional singers are called popular songs. These songs, which have broad appeal, are often composed by professional songwriters, composers and lyricists. Art songs are composed by trained classical composers for concert performances. Songs are performed live and recorded. Songs may also appear in plays, musical theatre, stage shows of any form, and within operas.