As we jumped out of the micro-bus and surveyed our surroundings, one couldn't help but think that we'd landed in the future, sometime after Armageddon. The rocky, treeless landscape with tangerine coloured bricked houses as far as the eye could see, it looked like we could have been in a settlement derived from the people who had survived the end of the world.
However, that wasn't the case. My buddy, Cristof, visiting from Germany, and I were in Villa Valle Hermos, an hour outside of Cochabamba, to judge an English singing contest at the local school. We arrived and found a three-storied building full of students, from infants through to seniors - a hive of activity rushing around everywhere.
We were welcomed by the school staff and directed to our seats where we would overview the students performances. We were kindly given some cakes and drinks to snack on. Bribes perhaps? We think not. Just gratitude at us taking some time out and taking an interest. The students appeared shy at first but it wasn't long before we were swamped by students wanting to get to know us. Cristof, tall, dark and 21 years old, was a big hit with the senior girls, whilst I, a lot older than 21, had a crowd of children clamoring around me to have their photos taken.
Our role was to judge the numerous groups of students singing a song of their choice in English. To help with the judging, we were given a form each with the groups names and areas of performance that we might like to consider when judging the group, such as their pronunciation and how entertaining their performance was. A mark for punctuality was suggested but, being Bolivia, all groups lost that mark before the contest even began. We scrolled through the list of songs. Some we welcomed; others we weren't so keen on. Songs from such acts as Lady Gaga, Roxette. No Doubt, Back Street Boys, Robbie Williams, Madonna, Celine Dion and Justin Bieber.
Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, the groups were forced to sing without microphones which made it difficult for them. It was not clear whether we were to take the Simon Cowell approach and be brutally honest or, rather, to be supportive and encouraging. Because I suspected that I might be asked to get up and sing at some point, I took the supportive and encouraging approach. Thankfully, being asked to get up and show them how it is done never eventuated.
Many of the groups performed well - we could hear what they were singing and they moved around on stage - whilst others were visibly nervous and stood motionless wishing for the ground to swallow them up. However, we could see a lot of work had gone into the day's event with elaborate costumes and a lot of practice.
Despite being labelled a singing contest, many groups ignored this and concentrated on entertaining us with a dance show. With a strong gang culture in the school's neighbourhood, the boys were into the break dancing style which they pulled off with great humour on some occasions. Whilst the girls chose a more graceful style, choosing to do the easier two-step form side to side.
All in all it was a great experience for both the students and the judges. Hopefully they learnt something from our feedback and I know we came away feeling better for having witnessed a side of Bolivian life that we wouldn't normally get the opportunity to experience. However, I couldn't forgive the group that was responsible for putting Back Street Boys in my head for the rest of the day.
