By Anne Marie Wright, Heartland contributor
There are several big competitions happening this weekend in the greater Missouri, including Troy Buchanan, Smith-Cotton, and Joplin In the Spotlight. The host choirs this week are Joplin Sound Dimension, Touch of Class, and New Sounds, their junior high group. Joplin In the Spotlight will host 15 groups over the weekend, large and small, from near and far.
In the small school divisions, there are several choirs that also saw each other at Mt. Vernon two weeks ago, including East Newton Patriot Singers, Hollister Blue Harmony, McDonald County Rhapsody n’ Rhythm, and Mt. Vernon Vocal Motion. This week, Cameron Lights, Cameron, Action, who competed a few weeks ago at Pleasant Hill, and Seaman Viking Voices, who last competed at the Lincoln Links Show Choir Invitational in mid-January also join the lower divisions.
In the single-gender divisions, the headliner is Webb City Bella Voce, who earned second runner up at Mt. Vernon two weeks ago. Jenks Trojan Spirit, who placed third in the womens division at Pleasant Hill, and Broken Arrow Tiger Mystique, who will be competing for the first time this weekend, round out the womens division. The bass division includes Jenks’ brand-new mens group, Airemen, who made their debut a few weeks ago at Pleasant Hill, and Webb City DoMENance, who managed to place seventh overall at Mt. Vernon.
Looking at all of these groups and their history both this season and last, there are a few groups that stick out as top contenders for this weekend. Every year they’ve attended, Broken Arrow Tiger Rhythm has taken Grand Championship, Best Vocals, and Best Choreography, along with a large assortment of various caption awards. It can be expected that Tiger Rhythm will definitely be a top contender for the weekend.
Webb City Singers will also be competing for one of the top spots, especially after their Grand Championship, Best Vocals, and Best Choreography awards at Mt. Vernon. Jenks Trojanaires will be competing for the second time this weekend, and if last season proves anything, it’s that the Trojanaires will be coming to play again.
Now, the other three finals spots are up in the air. Joplin provides a great opportunity for single-gender and small school divisions to have a shot at finals since they take the top six scores overall from prelims, no matter the division. So, Bella Voce, Tiger Mystique, and Trojan Spirit could very well wind up in finals with their sister choirs, or even DoMENance and Airemen. There’s also a chance for the small schools to come through to snag a finals spot or two, and it’s looking like Mt. Vernon Vocal Motion and Hollister Blue Harmony will be the top contenders if that is the case. Moral of the story: There are three large mixed groups that will most likely be competing for the top three spots of the day, and a toss up for who will take the last three spots. This just leaves room for every group in every division to fight for a slot in the finals.
The stage is set for an exciting weekend of stiff competition in Joplin. It will be very interesting to see how these scores shake out between the competitive set of choirs we will be seeing. Stay tuned for a recap of this cutthroat competition after the placements have been awarded.
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