For the love
of falsetto
Frank B. Shaner's
By John Berger
annual concert reflects
his greatest passion
Star-Bulletin"You're sitting in the audience and you're looking up on stage and this very large, healthy, robust Hawaiian man comes out with shoulders as wide as Cleveland, and he hits notes so high that he's breaking light bulbs." Frank B. Shaner -- disc jockey, comedian, connoisseur of Hawaiian falsetto singing -- pauses, letting the imagery sink in.
"There's something about the passion and the soul when they linger up there in that high register that is just mesmerizing, even if you don't understand what they're singing about. It mesmerizes me. I make no bones about it -- I'm a fan."
Shaner was relaxing in a Fort Street fast-food restaurant after another busy morning on Hawaiian 105. Radio is Shaner's full-time job. Falsetto is his full-time passion. He's "The Man" when it comes to Oahu's foremost falsetto showcase: The Third Annual Frank B. Shaner Falsetto Contest takes place tomorrow night at the Hawaii Theatre.
Judges Robert and Roland Cazimero, Tony Conjugacion, Gary Haleamau, Ledward Kaapana, Nina Keali'iwahamana and Martin Pahinui will pick the best "unknown" male falsetto singer from a field of 12 finalists. Haleamau, Pahinui and 1995 contest winner Moses Kamealoha III will perform.
Star-Bulletin
Frank B. Shaner hosts his annual
"chicken-skin" falsetto singing concert
tomorrow night.
Preliminary judging was done via cassette. Shaner says the judging panel spent almost a week reviewing and re-reviewing the audition tapes before making the final culls.The Lucky 12 include a minister, a construction worker, a baker and a hotel manager, hailing from as far away as Japan.
The winner will be a master of several skills. He'll have the necessary upper-register vocal range and the ability to sing on key while he's up there. If he sings in Hawaiian he'll pronounce the lyrics properly. Beyond that, his delivery will have at least a hint of the distinctive quavering quality that reflects the traditions of Hawaiian chant.
"There's an air about falsetto singers. Not a cockiness, but a confidence to them, because they can do something most people can't. Like gunslingers -- they know they're bad so there's sort of a swagger to them. Two falsetto singers facing off to see who can sing the highest. It's a gift, and if you have the ability to sing falsetto, just stand tall and let it rip."
Shaner loves singing falsetto. He was thrilled to compete in Kindy Sproat's Big Island falsetto contest several years ago, but adds that he doesn't consider himself "The Great Falsetto Singer."
"I know two or three good songs, but I (also) know how far I can take it. I am just absolutely passionate about watching and helping other people get that falsetto singer in them out and in helping them present it to the people of our great state. "
He acknowledges support -- from Sheraton Hawaii, Aloha Festivals Executive Director Janet Hyrne and his radio station -- in sustaining the growth of the contest. He mentions frankly that the demand for tickets simply exceeded the capacity of the Monarch Room at the Sheraton's Royal Hawaiian Hotel, thus the move to Hawaii Theatre this year.
Shaner began singing falsetto more or less as a comic bit; "Blue Darling" was an early signature.
He also enjoyed slipping into local clubs and being mistaken for a "haole tourist" -- until someone called him up to sing ("I'd nail 'em"). He also performed as an audience "plant" during mainland tours with James Grant Benton, Frank De Lima or the Hawaiian Sons. He'd push his way on stage, affect a white-geek accent, and announce that he wanted to sing.
Laughs aside, his love of falsetto is real. The contest is his way of helping promote the art form.
"I hate to turn anybody away (because) Hawaiian falsetto is unlike anything else in the world. If you have it inside you, singing it is letting yourself free."
Frank B. Shaner
Falsetto ContestWhen: 7 p.m. tomorrow, doors open at 6 p.m.
