2025 Show Choir Nationals Preview

Show Choir Nationals has good years, great years and insane years. While this may not be the most stacked lineup in Nationals history, it's still a great lineup with plenty of stories to tell! Each and every group will hit the Grand Ole Opry stage between Thursday and Saturday to take the truest form of a 'national championship' available today in the world of show choir.

Nationals also offers a unique three-day structure. Single-gender groups perform on Thursday evening, and mixed preliminaries are during the day on Friday. The top six mixed groups will advance to finals, which occur on Saturday morning.

Live streams for all three days will be available through Stream Show Choir.

A total of 17 groups will perform this weekend. Here are their stories.

Mixed Groups

Alabama

Auburn “Varsity Singers”

“Not as hoped for” would be the best way to describe Auburn’s season thus far. With only one Grand Championship in three competitions (that lone GC being a near loss against upstart middle division group Hoover), Auburn is looking to end this season and start looking forward to next year. However, one good performance at Nationals would both turn their season around and end it on an extremely high note. They’ll have to do it against extremely stout competition though, and their track record thus far doesn’t look too optimistic. -Tony Holeman, Southern contributor

California

Los Alamitos “Sound FX”

FX has been having a bit of a mysterious season thus far, having no opposition at their lone competition thus far. Videos of their many exhibitions may be hard to come by, but make no mistake - despite this weekend being their first competitive performance of the season, Los Al will be primed to take home the grand champion title at SCN once again. Sound FX simply finds ways to win against the best in the world, and they’ll be hungry to prove themselves against foes from the Indiana Power Five after losing out-of-state for the first time in a long time to a generational Center Grove group last year. Carmel and Zionsville will be the biggest competition against FX to take the SCN throne, and FX will be overjoyed at the chance to beat them.  -Chris Mendoza, California contributor

Connecticut

Daniel Hand “VIBE”

Daniel Hand VIBE is headed to nationals for the first time since 2018. They have had a very successful season in the New England circuit this year. With three Grand Championships, three Best Choreography awards and two Best Vocals awards, they are well-prepared to take the Grand Ole Opry stage. Their show has encapsulated true grit and perseverance throughout the whole entire season. There are a ton of intriguing and intricate moments throughout the set, one of those being their ballad. It is so powerful hearing 65 performers on stage singing Morning Glow. Daniel Hand will for sure be a sight to see at the Nationals level. - Michael James Breen, New England contributor

Indiana

Carmel “Ambassadors”

The Carmel Ambassadors come into Nationals with arguably the most challenging competition schedule this season. Facing Linn-Mar, Center Grove, Franklin Central, Zionsville, North Central, and now Los Alamitos in one year means they had to bring one of the best products on stage in the group's illustrious history. They are poised to bring that show to the Grand Ole Opry stage if their finals run at Brownsburg is any indication. Their vocals were near-perfection against a strong FC group, picking up their second win of the season, and they will carry that momentum into this week. Their vocal prowess will be hard to match, and they will attempt to be the third Indy group to win the event in their first time attending the historic competition. - William Kaiser, Indiana contributor

Zionsville “Royalaires”

Zionsville enters nationals off three straight second-place finishes, which is less a testament to their group's caliber and more to the caliber of the groups they have faced, placing behind Franklin Central two times and Center Grove once. They made a strong declaration about their vocal abilities, taking Best Vocals from CG Sound System last week at Fairfield, something that their Indy counterpart Carmel could not do two weeks prior at FC. They will be in the battle for Best Vocals but will have a tough fight for choreo with several strong groups around the country. They will have a tough battle to bring home their first Grand Championship of the season, but nothing worth doing is ever easy. - William Kaiser, Indiana contributor

Mississippi

Madison Central “Reveille”

Other than arguably the most interesting show theme at this competition, there’s not much to say about this group and their expected results here. It’ll be a fun show, but Madison Central remains a far-off and unlikely contender for finals. With that being said, if anyone in the audience is a big gas station fan or Buc-ee’s enthusiast, the Reveille show will be a sight to behold. -Tony Holeman, Southern contributor

Petal “Soundsations”

Arguably the best southern group in attendance at this competition, Petal enters as a likely finals competitor. With a Grand Championship and two first runner-up placements (against highly-rated groups in Clinton and Oak Mountain), Petal is not a group to leave out of the conversation. It’s also worth remembering that Petal took the preliminary Best Choreography caption from Clinton at the Biloxi Gulf Coast Classic two weeks ago. Look for Petal to end their respectable season with a Day Three performance up in Nashville. -Tony Holeman, Southern contributor

Rosa Scott “Radiance”

Akin to their large group counterpart in Madison Central, Rosa Scott also seems to be an extremely unlikely prospect to make it to day three, but that’s also partially due to the fact that this group is essentially a freshman preparatory group for Madison Central Reveille. This group of performers has done pretty well these last couple of years, and their show on the Nationals stage will provide a glimpse of what future Reveille editions will probably look like. -Tony Holeman, Southern Contributor

Ohio

Olentangy “Keynotes”

Are the Keynotes having one of their best seasons since the pandemic? Yes. Would you know that if you looked at their season on paper? No. The Olentangy Keynotes, long in the middle of Ohio large mixed show choir, have beaten several traditional in-state foes this season - Loveland, ETC, Beavercreek, and Findlay among them - but have still been unable to break into the top of Ohio, falling to groups like Piqua, Grove City, Fairfield, and Marysville over the course of the season. The only comp at which they’ve faced significant out-of-state competition was Marysville, where they came in fourth behind Chesterton and Waubonsie Valley. The Keynotes are undoubtedly excited to present their Ireland-themed show at Nationals this year, with their main goal likely being to improve on their eighth-place finish at Nationals in 2023. They also remain in contention for a finals spot if they give it their all on the Opry stage. - Simon Zimmerman, Ohio contributor

West Virginia

Musselman “Kaleidoscope”

As far as common show choir knowledge goes, Musselman will be the first West Virginia group to compete at Show Choir Nationals, an exciting milestone for Mountaineer State show choir. Musselman, like always, has mostly competed outside of West Virginia this season; they have some strong results to their name, including a Best Choreography win against some of Virginia’s best at Clover Hill, as well as some not-so-strong results, including falling behind several Ohio small mixed groups at Alliance. Musselman will be looking to have their best performance of the season at Show Choir Nationals and represent West Virginia show choir well; with any luck, they will encourage other groups to compete at Nationals in the future. - Simon Zimmerman, Ohio contributor

Womens Groups

Alabama

Auburn “Elan”

Similar to their mixed group counterpart, Auburn’s womens group hasn’t had the season they’d hoped for. Sure, they’ve mainly lost to some of the top Southern single-gender groups. But hand-in-hand with that remark remains the fact that they haven’t really beaten any major or significant single-gender groups either. They’re essentially in the middle of the pack of the Southern single-gender category. Nationals includes groups from all across the country though, giving Elan the chance to possibly end the season on a high note. -Tony Holeman, Southern contributor

California

Los Alamitos “Soundtrax”

It’s true: Soundtrax haven’t quite been themselves for the last few years. This is not the case in 2025. Trax’s “Betty Boop”-themed show is colorful, exciting, and expertly performed. Like Sound FX, Soundtrax will be making their competitive debut at Nationals, and they’ll be sure to impress. They’ll be going against some of the premier womens groups in the nation, but don’t be surprised if they upset some great groups, or even take home the top spot on Thursday night. -Chris Mendoza, California contributor 

Indiana

Carmel “Accents”

Carmel Accents enter Nationals having won three of their four competitions so far this season. Their only speed bump was in what is likely the most competitive womens competition this year, losing to Fishers Sound and Center Grove Debtones at Franklin Central. Even there, Accents still took the choreography caption from third place. They will have an opportunity to pull out a solid win against national competition, solidify another first-class season, and add a well-deserved national title to the group's resume as one of the best womens groups in Indiana and the country. - William Kaiser, Indiana contributor

Zionsville “Choralaires”

Choralaires are in a similar place to their mixed group. They have yet to win this season, but that is primarily due to the extremely tough schedule they have faced. It will continue here at Nationals, where they will face the only remaining member of the Indiana Power Five that they have yet to face this season. They have put together a strong show throughout the season, and a solid result at Nationals would help solidify the legacy of this year's group. - William Kaiser, Indiana contributor

Mississippi

Petal “Innovations”

Standing out as one of the most underrated groups in the South, Petal’s womens group Innovations looks stands a legitimate chance to upset some of the Midwest womens powerhouses. With wins over womens groups like Wheaton Warrenville South Esprit and Northwest Rankin The Allure and mixed groups like Madison Central Reveille and South Jones Company, Innies have certainly solidified their group’s resume. If things truly click on Thursday night, Petal can absolutely pull off an upset in the treble division. - Tony Holeman, Southern contributor

Ohio

Olentangy “She-Notes”

The She-Notes aren’t one of the top Ohio single gender groups, it’s true; still, their disco show is fun, and it will likely be well received at Nationals. The She-Notes have faced just about everyone in Ohio single-gender show choir this season, and they have had a couple good results; they won single-gender at Solon, for instance, and they split captions with Loveland’s women’s group at Winfield, though they still placed second. Still, they’ve fallen short to single-gender groups from Grove City, ETC, Hurricane, Fairfield, and Chesterton. Their likely goal for Nationals is to put on the best performance that they can, which will be a great way for them to end their season. - Simon Zimmerman, Ohio contributor

Mens Groups

Auburn “Men at Work”

The lone mens group at this competition, it seems to be stress-free for the men down at Auburn. While they don’t have any major storyline to follow or any signature wins from the season, Men at Work is well-known for being one of the most lighthearted and enjoyable groups to watch in the south. Performing in a non-competitive division should only enhance this aspect of their show, and they will have a full auditorium as the last group to perform before awards. -Tony Holeman, Southern contributor

Behind The Numbers

This year's mixed groups have combined for:

• 8 Grand Championships

• 8 Best Vocals captions

• 6 Best Choreography captions

• 4 Best Band captions

so far this season.

This year's single-gender groups have combined for:

• 7 division wins

• 4 Best Vocals captions

• 4 Best Choreography captions

• 1 Best Band caption

• 1 overall finals appearance

  so far this season.

The finals streaks heading into this event are:

• 53: Zionsville (2009 Lebanon Classic)

• 44: Carmel (2009 ISSMA Large State Finals)

• 19: Petal (2018 Heart of America Orlando)

• 12: Los Alamitos (has never missed finals at a competition with a finals round)

• 11: Olentangy (2023 Show Choir Nationals)

• 6: Madison Central (2024 Jackson Academy Invitational)

• 5: Auburn (2022 Show Choir Nationals)

• 2: Daniel Hand (2022 Heart of America Orlando)

• 0: Musselman (2025 Alliance Royal Aviation Invitational), Rosa Scott (2025 Biloxi Gulf Coast Classic)

It is worth noting that Los Alamitos and Daniel Hand hail from circuits where there are never finals at local competitions, and that a bit less half of Auburn's usual competitions have a finals round.

Best of luck to all competing this weekend!