To think the military wives choir is a bit rubbish?

[yummymummy1920]

Now please don't think that I'm against what they do and the reasons they do it.
I think they are supporting a VERY worthy cause and I donate to help for Heros every month BUT the choir is just a bit rubbish.. They don't sound particularly harmonious like a good choir should and a few of the solos i have listened to have just been awful.
Is it wrong of me to think that they should just raise awareness in other ways rather than people buying CD's that they aren't actually going to listen to?

How mean you are talking like they sing like a bag of cats they dont they are not professional

Wow op you really don't get the point of mwc. Maybe if you were a mil wife you'd understand that it's for support and friendship during incredibly stressful times.

If you don't like it don't watch it, don't make bitchy comments on MN. These women are or have been through hell and need a social outlet, heaven forbid they shouldn't be pitch perfect.

You see I don't think we have been through hell. I don't think we are a group to be pitied and I guess that's what I don't like about it.

Actually a few might have had a really hard time but I just feel the whole thing was presented as being the saviour of military wives. Like we weren't already doing things like this ourselves and just, you know, talking to our friends and just getting on with it.

Jiggerie I think you've nailed it there! In fact I would have preferred people whip out their cross stitch than sing at me at a social event I'm paying to attend!

These women are or have been through hell and need a social outlet, heaven forbid they shouldn't be pitch perfect.

They don't need to make records or sing at every social function either though. Just get together and sing.

Hell btw is seeing your colleagues blown up in front of you, losing a limb or the loss of a loved one. Let's not play the suffering hierarchy game.

The MWC at our old camp was odd, there were plenty of social groups and events for wives as there are on most camps, but the MWC was really clicky, but then most things on camp are clicky and everyone is always in each others business.

And not all wives have a "tough" time when their husbands are on deployment, they are too busy shagging the new blokes

I agree with Foxes as well. It paints wives in a patronising light. Most I knew were hard working professionals juggling work and family. Getting on with life and doing a bloody good job. Not looking for limelight or attention.

I think the MWC should be treated like any other community choir really. It's great that it offers support and friendship but I don't see why the MWC should perform on national TV if the singing is not of a professional standard. I've been in a couple of unauditioned choirs and we wouldn't expect to perform to anyone other than friends and family. Or to sell CDs to the general public!

Having said that - I didn't see the programme but do feel sorry for the soloist, hope she doesn't see this thread.

It's not about the singing though. It's about them being united and there for each, all going through the same thing. Were by everyone is included.
It's not the XFactor.

Some of them are brilliant. But some are absolutely rubbish I agree.

hahhahaaa....
there was a story on radio about initiatives to get more people singing.
How it bound folk together, gave them an emotional boost & more resilience, improved relationships, gave them a project, etc.

All I could think was:

The ones who can sing will be aghast at the ones who can't sing.

The ones who can't sing will be confuse & wonder why they are being shunned.

Observers will slag them all off online if they ever sing in public (like is happening here).

So really, it only works as a cohesion experience for those who are already very talented and are quite sure of it. A selective group. It's more like an active exclusion experience rather than something that builds cohesion.

What an unpleasant thread.

*Wow op you really don't get the point of mwc. Maybe if you were a mil wife you'd understand that it's for support and friendship during incredibly stressful times.

If you don't like it don't watch it, don't make bitchy comments on MN. These women are or have been through hell and need a social outlet, heaven forbid they shouldn't be pitch perfect.*

Don't be so melodramatic! I'm a military wife and I get exactly what the choir is supposed to achieve. The issue I have with MWC is that it's rammed down our throats at every single function. I don't have the choice not to listen to it and that really pisses me off!

Most of those women haven't 'been through hell'. They've just got on with life like everyone else. You might be surprised at how many of them aren't actually wife/girlfriend of serving soldiers too. Am I allowed to ask them to stop assaulting my senses now you know that half of them have the most tenuous of links to the military?!

I live a choir is all about the singing though, that's like me joining a military wives knitting group and making scarfs that look more like tea bags woth all the holes and dropped stitches to sell to the public

I was going to join one after singing in choirs through school, at the Eisteddfod and so forth, but was put off by "your Welsh, you have to join, everyone knows Welsh people can sing" I was thinking, thats a bit racist/stereotypical and replied "yes well you should start a tea drinking and cricket club, because all English are good at that and lay of the singing, that only for us Welsh folk".....went down like a lead balloon, the Sgt's wife never made eye contact with me again.

Also it's always full of Women holding their husbands rank....Oh my husband's a captain "respect me" I should get the solo! Love you sound like a cat baking strangled, me thinks not.

Their not as naice and supportive as they make out to be lol from my personal experience.

Rock Choir is an excellent alternative

It's a rewarding hobby and it's great that they support one another, but this very average choir doesn't belong on tv or in the charts.

jiggly it sounds like you've only ever had bad experiences with MWC but I can assure you that not all are the same. We certainly do not burst in to song at every opportunity and only ever sing 2/3 songs when we perform. We have never made any cds although we do actually sound pretty good.
As for the wives carrying their husband's ranks, it's so not the case. 70% of our choir are officer's wives, myself being a Cpl's wife. I get treated and respected as much as any other, never excluded from anything. We certainly don't believe we have been through hell but it is pretty tough out here and I know if I'm a bit stressed or fed up I always leave feeling 100% better. But then different people enjoy different things and choir doesn't sound like your kind of happy place.
Each choir is different though and not all pushy and overbearing like you describe.

I think the idea of MWC is a fantastic one on the surface (and I say that as a member of a MWC!).
Jiggly I've heard that some of the bigger choirs can be very much "I wear my husband's rank", and full of WO and Officer's wives, which can understandably make wives of the lower rankers not want to join - there is a big difference in the way the officers and lower ranks live their lives even on the same camp!
I'm part of a very small MWC (there's only 10 of us), but we are a right mixture of people! We have a couple of older ladies (50+) who are mothers of serving soldiers, a few officers/WO/Sgts wives, all between the ages of 30 and 50 - (one of which is a classically trained pianist and is amazing!), and then there's a couple of us "young-uns" (I'm the youngest at 22) all married to lower ranking infantrymen.
We leave rank outside the door. Once we are inside the church, we just sing, chat, eat cake and drink tea and port/gin/wine. We don't really do many performances because we are a very small group on a tiny camp in the arse end of nowhere, but we still come together every week regardless of whether we have something to rehearse for. It's my night of the week where I get to go and just relax with other adults and not have to worry about whether my toddler is swinging from the rafters of the soft play!
If it weren't for the choir, I never would have made some of the great friends I've made, purely because the ridiculous "officer/soldier divide" between everyone outside of the choir - which I think is very sad, but it's one of those things that's so deeply ingrained into the military lifestyle.

We are due a posting at the end of the year, and two of the places in the realm of possibility for us are home to two of the biggest, most established MWC, and I would be hesitant to join them when we move because of the things I've heard about clicky-ness within them. I don't fancy being relegated to "ooo-ing and swaying" in the back purely because I'd be a newbie married to a low-ranking grunt

I've been on 3 camps, 2 of whom ad MWC, I really must be unlucky to always get the bad choirs 😂

I'm sure some are fine, I just don't think they should sell CD's of they can't sing. One camps MWC demanded to sing at family day last year, it was declined and they got their knickers in a right twist over it 😂

I only have 2 friends at camp now, I stay out of it all. I can't be bothered with the drama and the club's. I live a prwttly lonely life on camp but I enjoy it. I have my sport that I'm heavily envolved in and my full time job so I avoid most wife things haha!

My phone enjoys autocorrecting to incorrect spellings, as I message in Welsh also and it now hates me haha sorry.

Jiggly I envy the military wives who work! I went from serving in the military myself, to being a SAHM, and have not worked temporary part-time jobs in between.....the toddler groups on my camp are the worst for the clicky drama I went to one the other week that I hadn't been to before, and the women there all looked up and stared at me like a bunch of meerkats when they realised an outsider had dared to infiltrate the impenetrable circle

have worked
I can't type properly today either

I've seen Rock Choir perform twice and both times were excruciating. I get that communal singing is a really good thing, but when amateurs are unleashed on the public it can be a bit... ouch.

Take an Adele song, butcher it, await tears seems to be the MO.

It's horrendous isn't it. I locked myself in my house practically for maternity leave with DS, I just couldn't cope with them.

I'm lucky we've just completed a house purchase so can say goodbye to pad life. DP will never be stationed now at any camp because of his role. It's the only camp in the UK. Happy dance haha

they don't compare to 'proper choirs'... Whatever thry are....

Some of the TV programmes with Gareth were deeply patronising...

When he was first on TV I liked him... Now massively over exposed...

Oh yes and if he has any other things which are' the toughest thing I've ever had to do'... I'll eat my own liver with a spoon!