Each show choir region seems to be bringing out the top guns this week – we’ve got some absolutely loaded competitions to cover!
Franklin Central Hoosier Show Choir Classic
The Lineup (groups from Indiana unless noted)
Large Mixed: Brownsburg “Spotlight Singers & Company”, Carmel “Ambassadors”, Center Grove “Sound System”, Columbus East “Center Stage”, Fishers “Electrum”, Northrop “Charisma”
Small Mixed: Batesville “Singers”, Bloomington “Amplitude”, Center Grove “Surround Sound”, Pendleton Heights “Pendletones”, Roncalli “Royal Rhapsody”, Winfield “General Admission” (WV)
Large Womens: Brownsburg “Starlight Voices”, Carmel “Accents”, Center Grove “Debtones”, Columbus East “Serenade”, Fishers “Sound”, Northrop “Allure”, Westfield “Illumination”
Small Womens: Center Grove “Accents”, Pendleton Heights “Emerald Suites”, Winfield “Emerald Elegance” (WV)
Prep: Brownsburg “Bella Voce”, Carmel “New Edition”, Fishers “Cantabile”, Fishers “Cantus”
One week after a tight Center Grove contest, Franklin Central continues the trend of ‘great Indiana programs hosting great competitions.’ Hoosier Classic returns the top four choirs from last year, which saw Carmel triumph over Center Grove in a split-caption decision where Ambassadors took Best Choreography and Best Band and Sound System took Best Vocals. The margin between those two groups will probably be razor-thin again this year. Fishers is the defending third-place finisher, but they will have to stave off a very hungry Brownsburg group that exploded onto the scene last weekend. The womens division will be one for the ages as well, with arguably the top three womens groups in Indiana – Carmel, Fishers and Center Grove – all battling it out. Westfield is also making its competitive debut in that division. Small mixed will see Roncalli look to defend their division supremacy against Pendleton, one of their closest in-state challengers, Center Grove’s second mixed group, and West Virginia challenger Winfield.
Keller Central Lone Star Invitational
The Lineup (groups from Texas unless noted)
Varsity: Arlington “Choraliers”, Arlington Heights “Nitro”, Broken Arrow “Tiger Mystique” (OK), Broken Arrow “Tiger Rhythm” (OK), Burleson “Breakaway”, Fort Worth Southwest “Southwest Effect”, Fossil Ridge “Pantheon”, Keller “Blue Lights”, L.D. Bell “The Bell System”, Legacy “Silver Elite”, Prattville “Spotlight” (AL), Rouse “IntoneNation”, Southlake Carroll “The SLC”, Texas City “Soundsations”, Timber Creek “Aerodynamix”
Prep: Broken Arrow “Tiger Momentum” (OK), Cristo Rey “Blazin’ Blue”, Ferris “Yellowjacket Singers”, Fort Worth Southwest “Sound Machine”, Keller “Lumina”, Paschal “Vox”, Sam Rayburn “Encore”
Lone Star is back for another year of being the epitome of ‘everything is bigger in Texas.’ Besides this 22-group high school lineup on Saturday, another 30 groups from elementary school to high school will take the stage between Thursday and Friday. This puts LSI as the rare show choir competition where over 50 groups will compete. Regarding the high school field, Broken Arrow will be looking to go three in a row here. Three other finalists from last year – Keller, Fort Worth Southwest, and L.D. Bell – return as well. Keller and Bell have both won competitions this year, making them good bets for finals picks. Fossil Ridge has strung together a pair of placements so far this year, and Timber Creek was on the podium at Fort Worth Southwest to start out the year. Add in longtime Texas programs Arlington and Legacy, plus Broken Arrow’s girls group, and there are no shortage of finals contenders. Any number of groups could wind up from second to tenth here – the rest of us can just sit back and watch.
Norris Fields of Talent
The Lineup (groups from Nebraska unless noted)
AA: Ankeny Centennial “Spectrum” (IA), Lincoln East “Express”, Lincoln Southwest “Resonance”, Norwalk “Sound Adrenaline” (IA), Papillion-La Vista “Free Spirit”, Papillion-La Vista South “Titanium”
A: Beatrice “First Edition”, Plattsmouth “Out of the Blue”, Waverly “Encore”
Womens: Ankeny Centennial “Vortex” (IA), Lincoln East “Elegance”, Papillion-La Vista “Heart and Soul”, Papillion-La Vista South “Titan Radiance”
Prep: Ankeny Centennial “Chaos” (IA), Ankeny Centennial “Eternal Rush” (IA), Lincoln East “Elevation”, Lincoln Southwest “Ambience”, Norwalk “Sound Adrenaline”, Papillion-La Vista “Monarchy”, Papillion-La Vista South “Titan Express”
Fields of Talent is the quintessential ‘the smaller the town, the bigger the show choir’ event. Norris’ postal address is Firth, Nebraska, where the population is 649. However, the high school is a few miles outside of town, smack dab in the middle of fields. So it is quite literally “Fields of Talent.” Several groups could arguably be the headliner here. Lincoln Southwest is undefeated so far this season and just had a midseason clinic earlier this week, rounding into peak later-season form. Ankeny Centennial will travel to Nebraska to compete for the first time ever – they were supposed to attend Fields of Talent in 2018 before the event was iced out. Now, multiple directors later, Spectrum (and all associated choirs) are back. Lincoln East has swept Mitchell Friend de Coup this year, making a strong case for themselves as well. Papio and Papio South will battle it out for city supremacy for this year, and Titanium is looking for its first win of the season, as well. The top five groups could truly go any number of ways. The last finals spot will be Norwalk versus a very loaded prep and womens field, which contains (among others) Ankeny Centennial Vortex and Lincoln Southwest Ambience.
Petal Show Choir Invitational
The Lineup (groups from Mississippi unless noted)
Extra Large: Biloxi “Sound Surge”, Brandon “Brio”, Clinton “Attaché”, Enterprise “Encores” (AL), Grenada “Visions”
Large: Jackson Prep “Reveillon”, West Jones “Imagination”
Middle: Pearl River Central “Central Attraction”, Rome “Grand Finale” (GA), South Jones “Company”, Sumrall “Legacy”
Small: Clinton Christian “Extreme”, Columbia Academy “Premiers”, Laurel “Showstoppers”, Morton “One A’Chord”, Pass Christian “Luminary”, Pisgah “Innergy”, Purvis “Pizzaz”, West Marion “New Era”
Womens: Brandon "Bellas", Enterprise "Esprit" (AL)
The South just keeps churning out great lineup after great lineup this season. Clinton took all three captions from Oak Mountain at Homewood this past weekend, and they will look to do the same here. However, the field of contenders is much wider. Brandon is coming off a choreography caption at Chesterton, which they won over Carmel, Marysville and Wheaton North. Grenada seems to be improving every competition this year, and after a sweep over Auburn last week, Visions has quite the upward trajectory going. West Jones is a multi-time winner this year, and cannot be ruled out either. Those four plus Enterprise will likely make up the finals field. In middle mixed, Sumrall will look to capitalize on being first in division in prelims last week at West Jones and take the win in a deep middle mixed division. As usual, small mixed is anybody’s bet, with several top contenders entered at Petal.
Wildcard: Hastings Swingin’ on the River
Hastings took a commanding win in the Instagram poll and barely squeaked out a win in the X poll to become the overall wildcard winner.
The Lineup (groups from Minnesota unless noted)
Mixed: Bemidji “Vocalmotive”, Benton Community “Celebration Co.”, Bloomington Jefferson “Jefferson Connection”, Bloomington Kennedy “Rhythm in Gold”, Omaha South “The Ambassadors” (IA), St. Francis “Bridge Street Singers”, Tomah “Limited Edition” (WI), Totino-Grace “Company of Singers”, Urbandale “Studio” (IA), Urbandale “Vitality” (IA), Wheaton Warrenville South “The Classics” (IL)
Prep: Bemidji “La Voce Ballo”, Bloomington Jefferson “Jive”, Bloomington Kennedy “East Side Swingers”, New Prague “Emotion”, Totino-Grace “Encore Singers”, Totino-Grace “Testostertones”, Urbandale “Affinity” (IA), Wheaton Warrenville South “Esprit” (IL)
Hastings, as always, brings together a stellar lineup from several different states. Urbandale, Wheaton Warrenville South, and Bloomington Kennedy are the groups with the most name recognition right now, and those three are the only sure bets for finals. It wouldn’t be surprising to see either Urby or WWS win. Behind them, a horde of choirs will be gunning for the last three finals spots. Tomah is an upstart group that has won three competitions so far this year against primarily Wisconsin competition. Bemidji is also a competition winner this year, albeit in a snow-affected Onalaska Classic. Omaha South and Bloomington Jefferson have both run pretty tough circuits this year and have been consistent finals groups, which is an achievement in and of itself. Totino-Grace, while not having perhaps a traditional season for the group, can never be counted out. Urbandale putting their prep group in the varsity division may be a sign that they’re showing up seriously, as well. Who will fill out the finals field? Nobody really knows since so many circuits are colliding. Whoever does make finals will prove that they are worthy of it- there’s no ‘sneaking into finals’ here.
After taking a few minutes to process everything that will have went down on Saturday, come right back to HomeRoom Show Choir for all the best analysis!
Comentarios