Crossroads, Ambassadors of Harmony take top barbershop prizes

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Crossroads, a quartet with members from around the country, and Ambassadors of Harmony, a chorus based in St. Charles, Mo., were the two big winners at the 2009 International Barbershop Competition, held in Anaheim last week.

A six-day event that brought together singing groups from all over the world, the competition took place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, with some performances held at nearby Disneyland.

Crossroads took the top quartet prize in Saturday’s finals after placing first in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. The quartet consists of Fred Farrell, of Ft. Myers, Fla.; Brandon Guyton, from Cleveland, Tenn.; Jim Henry from St. Charles, Mo.; and Mike Slamka, of St. Clair, Mich. The group performed ‘Daddy’s Little Girl’ and ‘Georgia May’ for the finals competition.

(Check out the above video of Crossroads performing in Pasadena earlier this year.)

Ambassadors of Harmony won the top chorus prize, repeating its victory from 2004. The chorus, which performed ‘If You Love Me, Really Love Me’ and ‘Seventy-Six Trombones,’ beat out the heavy favorite, The Vocal Majority from Dallas, which placed second.

The competition’s other big winner was the L.A.-based group the Vagrants, which placed first in the collegiate quartet finals.

-- David Ng