Golden

On May 29, 2026, the Gay Men's Chorus of Tampa Bay brought "Love in Technicolor" to Allendale United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg, Florida, and the thirteenth number arrived like a burst of stadium light. Soloist Kevin Beckett led the chorus through Spencer Zembrodt's arrangement of "Golden," the soaring anthem first sung by Huntr/x in the 2025 phenomenon KPop Demon Hunters, written by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick and their collaborators.

Zembrodt's arrangement honors the song's pop-cinematic architecture: a hushed, confessional opening that gathers tension before launching into the wide, belted chorus that made the original a global sensation. He hands the verses to a single voice and reserves the full ensemble for the lift, so the climbing "I'm done hidin', now I'm shinin'" hook detonates with massed power rather than a soloist's strain.

Beckett sang with a bright, unforced top and clean intonation through the rangy melody, shaping the verses with intimacy and then yielding generously to the choir. Behind him the sections balanced beautifully: a warm tenor core, tight homophonic stacks on the title word, and crisp consonants that kept the rapid lyric legible. The dynamic shaping, from near-whisper to full-throated release, never blurred the blend.

Allendale's resonant sanctuary lent the big sustained chords a golden ring, the high vowels blooming under the wood beams while the soloist stayed forward in the mix. The audience, primed by the song's cultural ubiquity, answered the final cadence with an immediate roar of recognition and delight.

Within "Let's Go to the Movies!," "Golden" fit perfectly: a song explicitly about shedding shame and stepping into the light, sung by a chorus whose mission is precisely that visibility and joy. For a room full of chosen family, the message landed as both anthem and affirmation.