Pronunciation: 'yO-d&l
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): -deled or -delled; -del�ing or yo�del�ling /'yOd-li[ng], 'yO-d&l-i[ng]/
Etymology: German jodeln
Date: 1838
-to sing by suddenly changing from a natural voice to a falsetto and back; also : to shout or call in a similar manner

-to sing (a tune) by yodeling

The Yahoo! Yodel Challenge came to Chicago last night, and yours truly decided to see what all the fuss is about. And since I didn't see you there last night, I'll report and assuage your curiosity.

Yes, it's for real.
Yes, there are yodelers out there.
Yes, they're given a microphone and told to 'freestyle'.
Yes, it's overwhelming.
Yes, I had fun.

The event was outside, halfway down Navy Pier on the "Blue Stage". It took 10 minutes to get there once I pushed my way thru crowds of sticky-faced children holding ice cream in one hand and a balloon in the other, and umpteen stroller brigades, and all the well-coiffed ladies who were on the dinner cruise leaving once all the cheesy photos were taken in front of the life ring (and what's up with THAT?); I asked for directions *twice*. The Blue Stage doesn't really exist. Most of us would call it 'next to the beer garden at the end of the Pier' but not the employee/concierges at the front desk. It's a *stage*, half-way down the Pier. Not all the way, just half-way.
Half-way, my ass.

I gratefully settled in to wait on the only unoccupied chair; with only 20 minutes 'til showtime, there were few contestants signed up. The official Yahoo!er Wylie Gustafson was both MC and entertainment; once he started singing, the crowds began to gather. He did a few songs, introduced the first contestant, and we were off.

Off-key, that is. Enthusiastically off-key. He was followed by a possibly-inebriated man (we'll never know if it was the beer or the heady excitement of having a microphone at his disposal) and then Joel Daly stepped up to the mic. I guess he's a news personality of some sort, but he is most definately a yodeler in his spare time. WOAH. That's some mad yodeling. He's also on pitch; it almost made the others worth it. Following that, however, was a very odd man. He was basically screaming his way thru a yodel, and then said for his freestyle he was going to have 60 seconds of silence.

Weirdo. Whatever.

We finally got some female yodelers, who gave it their best and proved why high-pitched women aren't meant to yodel. They got up into the dog-only ranges and pissed off the speakers, creating lots of squealing and pain. Time for a break--Wylie's back with his guitar and we're doing a sing-a-long, which is enthusiastic and yet everybody's incredibly self-conscious. It was an interesting thing to watch; people had that 'we'll just humor the crazy man on the stage because we don't like to yodel, not me, I'm above the yodeling' look. That attitude changed when this teen got up on stage, working the crowd like she was born to the mike, and turning in quite an impressive performance. A brother/sister combo followed, with the 5 year old's rendition of the 'Yahoo!' winning a standing ovation. She was the crowd favorite, hands down.

More people, most of them trying to find a tone/tune/sound that worked for them.

I started feeling lightheaded...and an insane urge to try the whole yodeling-out-loud thing. The finals weren't until 7:30...I had to get out of there.

I walked back to Michigan, realizing one important thing that I'm going to pass along to you:

Men are not meant to yodel, and when yodeling they should never, ever, ever be given a microphone. Men aren't meant to produce these notes, or at that volume, unless they're watching body parts being forcibly removed (anethesia optional).

So, yeah, it was fun. I'm glad I went. Heck, I got to see 'Ukelele Duke', a man wearing what can only be described as a cowboy shirt decorated by 4 year olds with felt scraps and a glue gun. He said the ukelele was used for 'tuning'. And Joel Daly and Megan Kasczmarski were two of the three finalists, so I saw the good ones early! So head over and vote for your favorites (I recommend Joel, but that's cuz I'm biased), and then practice some yodeling in the shower for fun. Even Elvis yodeled. C'mon. You know The Goatherd's Song, admit it. Everybody does.