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218:. Finest Hour attended the BABS 2018 convention in Harrogate, Pipe's first ever time competing on the quartet stage in the UK, to compete for a qualifying score for the 2019 international competition. The new rules meant the highest scoring quartet of the weekend gained automatic qualification, which Finest Hour won with a UK record score of 83%.
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The three
Williams brothers – James (tenor), Eddie (lead), and Nick (baritone) – have sung together from a young age, and had sung with their father, Nigel Williams (bass), as a quartet named "Homespun". Homespun competed at the BABS Conventions for many years, placing third in 2013. They
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were a crowd favourite but over time Nigel decided to step down. In 2014, Phil
Cuthbert, a long-time family friend, stepped in to help form their new quartet, "Finest Hour". After placing third in their first national competition in 2015, they went on to win the gold medal in
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in July 2019, Finest Hour placed 22nd out of 57 quartets at that level, only one scoring point behind their nearest competitor, and just thirteen points away from becoming the second
British quartet in history (after Reckless in 2017) to make the International semi-finals.
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In
October 2017, Finest Hour competed at the European Barbershop Convention, representing BABS, where they achieved 1st place with a score of 79.4%. After this contest, Cuthbert decided to step down and Jonathan Pipe, a fellow singer with
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in
Nottingham, transitioned to the quartet's bass voice part. Pipe had previously sung with the 'House Lights Up' quartet in Spain, which placed third at the Spanish Association of Barbershop Singers convention in
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At the May 2017 BABS national convention in
Bournemouth, Finest Hour scored 81.8 per cent, the highest by a quartet that weekend, and qualified to compete at the July 2018 BHS International Convention in
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in 2015. The official bass handover took place at the BABS prelims competition in
November 2017. Notably, in May 2018, Finest Hour were asked to be the guest quartet at the
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Finest Hour, a quartet from
Chesterfield and Preston, won the Gold Medal in the 2016 national competition of the British Association of Barbershop Singers
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competitions in 2017 and 2019, where they placed 28th and 22nd respectively. They also hold the UK record for the highest qualifying score of 83%.
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In
October 2016, Finest Hour was the guest quartet at the Irish Association of Barbershop Singers (IABS) Convention held in
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The
Maelstrom quartet placed 20th after scoring 2479 points in the quarter-finals; Finest Hour scored 2466 points.
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738:'Finest Hour' successfully achieved a qualifying score (81.8 – the highest quartet score of the weekend)...
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in 2016, and the 2017 European barbershop quartet championship. The quartet competed in the international
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Finest Hour has given BABS its first ever straight 'A' quartet champions with a stunning 82.9% overall.
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754:"Official Scoring Summary, BHS, International Convention, Quartet Quarter-Finals, Las Vegas, Nevada"
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469:"Official Scoring Summary – Quartet Quarter-Finals, BHS 2019 International Convention"
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726:"Grand Central Chorus at the 43rd BABS Annual Convention Bournemouth 26–29 May 2017"
922:"Official Scoring Summary – Quartet Semi-Finals, BHS 2017 International Convention"
896:"Official Scoring Summary – Quartet Semi-Finals, BHS 2019 International Convention"
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444:. Ladies Association of British Barbershop Singers. 29 October 2017
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2016 British Association of Barbershop Singers Quartet Champions
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829:. British Association of Barbershop Singers. 15 November 2017
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802:"SABS National Quartet Contest Results, Final Results Order"
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Spanish Association of Barbershop Singers (5 August 2017).
670:"WATCH: Barbershop singers perform on the steps of the BIC"
170:. In April 2017, Finest Hour performed in a concert at
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in May 2016 with a record-high score of 82.9 per cent.
618:"Grand Central wins IABS International Chorus Contest"
193:in 2017 and, in their first time representing the
807:. Spanish Association of Barbershop Singers. 2015
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214:Quartet of Nations Region 31 convention at the
195:British Association of Barbershop Singers (BABS)
575:. Harmony UK Podcast. September 2016. 5:00
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1054:British Association of Barbershop Singers
993:British Association of Barbershop Singers
927:. Barbershop Harmony Society. 6 July 2017
901:. Barbershop Harmony Society. 4 July 2019
759:. Barbershop Harmony Society. 5 July 2017
474:. Barbershop Harmony Society. 3 July 2019
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548:"HomeSpun Quartet Semi-finals BABS 2013"
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596:"BABS 2016 Quartet Final – Finest Hour"
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849:"Newcastle 2018 Convention Programme"
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851:. Quartet of Nations Region 31. 2018
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952:. BABS Guild of Judges. 24 May 2015
728:. Grand Central Chorus. 30 May 2017
706:. BABS Guild of Judges. 28 May 2017
502:. BABS Guild of Judges. 27 May 2018
386:. BABS Guild of Judges. 29 May 2016
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827:"2017 BABS Qrt – Finest Hour – MC"
616:Blackley, Nelson (December 2016).
527:. BABS Guild of Judges. 5 May 2013
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347:"An introduction to: Barbershop"
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187:Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS)
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640:"Top Harmony Groups in Concert"
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594:Williams, Nick (30 May 2016).
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185:The quartet qualified for the
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408:James, Ian (September 2016).
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876:. Babs Guild of Judges. 2018
668:Wilson, Kate (29 May 2017).
189:International Convention in
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638:Sayer, Peter (April 2017).
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647:Newtown Linford Magazine
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203:The Grand Central Chorus
410:"The Chairman Signs In"
326:Accentuate the Positive
675:Bournemouth Daily Echo
77:Eddie Williams –
72:James Williams –
40:Background information
871:"Contest Rules v10.0"
780:"Finest Hour Quartet"
569:"Finest Hour Quartet"
87:Jonathan Pipe –
82:Nick Williams –
1059:British vocal groups
837:– via YouTube.
701:"2017 Quartet Final"
605:– via YouTube.
557:– via YouTube.
522:"2013 Quartet Final"
172:Loughborough College
1049:Barbershop quartets
293:European Convention
142:. It won the 2016
140:barbershop quartet
122:/FinestHourQuartet
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1025:Succeeded by
1018:Quartet Champions
947:"2015 Scoresheet"
497:"2018 Scoresheet"
381:"2016 Scoresheet"
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351:Making Music
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100:Past members
60:2014–present
56:Years active
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984:Finest Hour
975:Finest Hour
833:15 November
208:Benalmádena
133:Finest Hour
25:Finest Hour
1038:Categories
905:10 October
782:. Facebook
448:31 October
320:This Is Us
314:Recordings
49:Barbershop
1016:National
956:11 August
811:17 August
786:17 August
763:10 August
732:11 August
710:11 August
685:26 August
680:Newsquest
653:20 August
601:16 August
579:16 August
553:12 August
531:12 August
390:10 August
357:10 August
191:Las Vegas
161:Harrogate
979:Facebook
328:– (2022)
118:facebook
84:baritone
1008:Tagline
988:YouTube
154:History
137:British
113:Website
69:Members
931:31 May
880:8 June
855:8 June
506:8 June
478:4 July
45:Genres
1022:2016
950:(PDF)
925:(PDF)
899:(PDF)
874:(PDF)
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472:(PDF)
442:(PDF)
413:(PDF)
384:(PDF)
333:Notes
300:2017
274:2019
245:2016
135:is a
74:tenor
1014:BABS
958:2017
933:2019
907:2019
882:2018
857:2018
835:2017
813:2017
788:2017
765:2017
734:2017
712:2017
687:2017
655:2017
603:2017
581:2017
555:2017
533:2017
508:2018
480:2019
450:2017
392:2017
359:2017
285:22nd
280:28th
271:2017
242:2015
168:Cork
120:.com
89:bass
79:lead
986:on
977:on
306:1st
256:1st
251:3rd
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