On Saturday, as reported earlier, the PS22 Chorus performed live on the CBS Early Show nationwide. While there, the kids, led by Elijah, performed a beautiful tribute to Michael Jackson for Early Show anchors Chris Wragge, Erica Hill, Lonnie Quinn, and Priya David. It didn't air on the broadcast, but you can watch it below.
Within hours of the PS22 Chorus Michael Jackson Tribute YouTube debut, the video already received two honors, including the #32 Top Rated Music Video.
Below are some more pics from our Early Show performance.
PS22 Chorus & CBS Early Show anchors PS22 Chorus & Ann Coulter Jared dazzled by Erica Hill Tirzah rocks the mike on "Just Dance"
Chances are, you've already seen this story on the web, as it's been on just about any and every notable newspaper/website. Such is the power of the Associated Press! Big thanks to reporter Verena Dobnik and photographer Bebeto Matthews (who snapped all the pics on this posting) for the major exposure the kids received from this beautiful write-up! The article has already appeared in such prestigious news agencies as The Guardian, Newsday, Google News, Yahoo News, MSN News, The Boston Globe, Washington Post, Seattle Times and many more!
Perez Hilton, ardent supporter and self-proclaimed biggest fan of "our beloved PS22 Chorus", even linked to the article on his blog, in a post he titled, "They Make Us So Proud." Indeed they do!
Now I believe in offering students choices with regard to their education. Following that line of thinking, I offer you a plethora of choices as to where you would like to read the Associated Press article. Actually the different links offer different views of the story. For instance, the Boston Globe article has a great picture, while The Guardian offers no picture, but tells the complete story. The links below are, believe it or not, only some of the places online where you can read the article. This story can be found in hard copy and online being featured by many of the biggest news agencies around the globe. AWESOME!!
I've fallen a bit behind on my blogging, but I would be neglect in my responsibilities if I did not offer up this post. The Staten Island Advance has served up some great stories and pics on the chorus lately, so here they come! The fantastic pics above and below were taken by Advance photographer, Michael McWeeney.
The following article was printed in the June 17th edition of the Advance. Thanks to Kiawana Rich for the beautiful article capturing our experience down in Washington, D.C.. You can read the article by clicking on the scan below or by clicking the following link: SI LIVE: PS22 Chorus wows 'em far from Staten Island
The PS22 Chorus was also featured in Saturday's edition of the Advance, in the article about the previously posted S.I. Hospital ribbon-cutting ceremony, at which the group performed for N.Y.C. Mayor Bloomberg and U.S. Senator Schumer. Read that article on SI LIVE or click on the scan below.
On Friday, June 26th, the kids sang once again for Mayor Michael Bloomberg and U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new wing at Staten Island Hospital. The kids sang "Eye Of The Tiger" by Survivor and several others at the event, and the mayor and senator both had some very nice words about the chorus, which you can seein the video below.
On Thurday, the PS22 Chorus got a visit from the MTV News crew, including mega-cool correspondent Sway Calloway! Sway was awesome with the kids and was obviously very impressed by what he has seen and heard from our fifth grade posse!
Sway interviewed Allie & Baaba (Allibaaba) in one segment...
...and then Joseph, Nick, and Justin in another.
After we spoke, Sway was then treated to a mini-performance by the PS22 Chorus, which included a debut version of "Seaweed Song" by our friends, Passion Pit! (We'll wait on posting that and another awesome rendition of "Just Dance" by Lady Gaga until after the segment airs.)
Big thanks to Sway and MTV News for coming down and giving a little more "street cred" to the PS22 Chorus! The segment was originally set to air on July 1st, however it may be postponed with Michael Jackson's untimely passing. I will update the blog when I get further notice from MTV.
Yes it's true, school ended on Friday, and the PS22 Chorus of 2009 is indeed moving on. But there are still quite a bit more to be revealed from these kids (including an upcoming MTV News spot!). But for now, here are two versions of "Forever Young" by Alphaville. Congratulations to Bahira and April for their beautiful duet, and the chorus for another amazing rendition(s)!
Piano version (already honored by YouTube as the #79 Top Rated Music Video)
Check out the PS22 Chorus tomorrow on the CBS Early Show airing Saturday morning, nationwide! The kids will be performing live during the second hour of the show.... Can't wait!! :)
Two weeks ago we got a visit from Jennifer Mulreany from NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. They are currently featuring the PS22 Chorus segment on the NBC website (which you can see above), and also a really beautiful write up from Summer Suleiman, an intern from NBC who joined Miss Mulreany on her visit to PS22. (You can also see it in the screencap below.) Thanks to both Jen and Summer for the beautiful piece they put together, and for introducing a brand new audience to our amazing kids and their seemingly endless bounty of accomplishments!
This morning I had the pleasure of talking to the hosts of SCRUBS IN THE MORNING, the morning talk show on radio station, THUNDER 94.5, for an on-air interview about the success of the PS22 Chorus! Apparently the gang, consisting of "Flounder," April Rose, and "Scrubs" himself, became fans of the chorus a while back, and have been discussing and playing the music of our kids for a while now.... The interview was fantastic, and you can see hear it on the audio player above, or by clicking on the link to their website. It was a great interview, and the Michigan-based radio show hosts seemed really excited about the kids and their success! Big thanks to everyone at Scrubs In The Morning for inviting me on to talk about my 60 little bits of pride and joy!
This morning was absolutely incredible as the kids got some more national exposure on Good Morning America! The kids sounded astoundingly good as they sang snippets of some of their most well-known internet hits, and a full-length version of "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey!
Below are some more pics from the show! Thanks to GMA for supplying some of the pics you see here, including the awesome group shot below the post title.
Tirzah rocks the mike! Elijah gives a soulful performance! Feelin' it.... Robin Roberts (the coolest!) and the gang! Pooped after a hard day's work!
The New York Post feature came out this morning, and is practically a full-page article on page 9! The article focuses on how the budget crisis may impact the program for the next school year. Thanks to reporter Annie Karni and photographer Chad Rachman for all of their hard work on the PS22 Chorus's behalf. Job well done!
The PS22 Chorus will be featured this week all over New York, starting with a write-up in the Sunday edition of The New York Post! Then tune in Sunday and Monday to NY1 every other hour as they feature the chorus, not just in the Staten Island edition, but airing wherever NY1 airs! And we're still not done! The kids will appear in the June 22nd issue of New York Magazine! Again, so awesome to get all of this local recognition and exposure!
Beyond that, we're really psyched about Monday morning, as the kids will be appearing on GOOD MORNING, AMERICA all across the nation! The kids will be singing sporatically throughout the second hour of the broadcast in front of a live audience and it should be a blast!! Crazy exciting!!! The PS22 media frenzy seems to be heating up!!
It was an amazing honor to get a phone call at home yesterday from U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan! The Secretary is the head of the Department of Education and also a member of the President's Cabinet! He is 16th in the line of sucession for the presidency. So you can imagine my surprise to receive his call! The Secretary was extremely complimentary and expressed his appreciation of the kids and their accomplishments. He also asked if I felt the future of the program was in jeopardy. (Of course, there is always the chance funding could get cut, circumstances being what they are.) He gave me his number and told me to call upon him if ever we needed any assistance. In times like these, it's good for the chorus to have friends like the Secretary, and I'm extremely grateful to him for such a kind offer. But wow!! It's still mind-blowing to me just how far the voices of the chorus seems to be carrying lately. To I'm so proud of you kids, and this ought to make you guys extremely proud too!
New York's biggest radio station, Z100 gave the PS22 Chorus some airplay on the extremely popular Elvis Duran And The Morning Show! They spent a good deal of time paying tribute to our newest video, "Just Dance" by Lady Gaga! The above screencap is taken from their blog! SO COOL!
Even though they got the wrong location (we're STATEN ISLAND, not Brooklyn), TV GUIDE Magazine's website certainly got the #1 video on their HOT VIDEOS list correct!!!
Just last week the view count for PS22 Chorus videos reached five million! Well in less than a week, the kids have scored another 1,000,000 hits on their videos thanks to the extraordinary amount of media attention that's been coming their way! Some more appearances coming up by the way, so stay posted!
Mallika Chopra, daughter of IG Nobel Prize winner Deepak Chopra, the well-known physician/philosopher/writer has written an extraordinary posting about the PS22 Chorus on the Beliefnet blog. Check it out at the link below.
It's been quite a run the PS22 Chorus has been on as the school year is fast coming to a close. The kids took a trip down to Washington D.C. at the invitation of our friend, Congressman Michael McMahon. (You may recall that the chorus sang at his and his wife's inauguration this past December. Click here if you missed it.) The kids sang outside the Capitol Building to an audience that included (in addition to the McMahon, the other members of the U.S. Congress and Speaker Of The House, Nancy Pelosi. The house speaker was indeed duly charmed and impressed by everything she saw in and heard from the PS22 Chorus. We are honored to have turned her into an instant fan, as evidenced by the video below that documents our performance at the Capitol. The vid was featured on CNN yesterday on the Anderson Cooper 360 show!!
Apparently host Anderson Cooper has become a pretty big fan of the chorus himself, inviting the kids to sing on his show! (We'll have to see if we can work that out before the kids leave P.S.22.) Watch the video below to see him talk about the chorus on his show just the day before the above footage aired.
It was a fun performance, despite the fact that I broke a string on the guitar right before our first song! So several songs became spontaneous a capella renditions, including what actually turned out to be a rather excellent version of "Eye Of The Tiger." You can watch that video below, which was posted to Congressman McMahon's YouTube channel.
So big thanks, to Congressman Michael McMahon for taking the time to arrange this awesome event for both the kids and all who got to see them! Speaking on behalf of the kids, it was truly an incredible day that we will never forget. Enjoy some more pics from the event below.
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