Welcome to February! With the exception of California, all of the major show choir circuits are up and rolling. This week’s COTW features contests in Alabama, Iowa, Indiana and Missouri!
Albertville Diamond Classic
The Lineup (all groups from Alabama unless noted)
Large Mixed: Homewood “The Network”, Tift County “8th Street Singing Company” (GA)
Middle Mixed: Boaz “Elite”, Chelsea “Out Of The Blue”, Donelson Christian “Legacy” (TN), Homewood “Continuum”, Hoover “Paradigm”, Jasper “Phoenix”, Lakeside “Soundsation” (GA), Rome “Grand Finale” (GA), Spain Park “Rhapsody in Blue”, Vestavia Hills “Singers”
Small Mixed: North Paulding “EnChorus” (GA), Tallassee “Voltage”
Womens: Homewood “Nexus”, Tallassee “Divas”, Tift County “Ladies Choice” (GA)
Mens: Tallassee “Gold Edition”, Tift County “Tiftosterone” (GA)
Middle School Large: Bumpus “Cadence”, Eighth Street “One Voice” (GA), Homewood “Patriot Singers”, Lake Forest “Revolution” (TN), Oak Mountain “Elevation”, Simmons “Synergy”
Middle School Small: Berry “Bravura”, Boaz “Expressions”, Rome “Grand Illusion” (GA)
Large mixed will see a rematch of last week’s Tallassee competition, giving Tift County a chance to turn the tables on Homewood and conversely giving The Network a chance to make it two in a row. Middle mixed is, well, a bloodbath. Two of the three groups involved in a mind-bending series of caption ties are back at it, along with the group that finished right behind them in third. Rome comes in to debut in 2023 after winning its first ever grand championship last year, and Donelson goes from Indiana last weekend to Alabama this weekend. North Paulding will make its competitive debut, so congrats to them! Also, peep a contested mens division – that doesn’t happen too often outside of California. The womens division also packs a solid punch despite having only three groups.
Bettendorf Rhythm on the Riverbed
The Lineup (all groups from Iowa unless noted)
4A: Davenport North “Northside Establishment”, Liberty “Storm”, Muscatine “River City Rhythm”, Naperville North “Entourage” (IL), Western Dubuque “5th Avenue”, Wheaton Warrenville South “The Classics”
3A: Center Point-Urbana “Summit Street Singers”, Wahlert Catholic “Impulse”
2A: Colby “The Coalition” (WI)
1A: Highland “Dissonance” (IL)
Womens: Davenport North “Center Stage”, Liberty “Impact”, Naperville North “High Heeled Harmony” (IL), Wheaton Warrenville South “Esprit” (IL)
WWS is the defending champion of the event and will look to get back to its winning ways after starting 2023 off with a runner-up finish at Mt. Zion. After one of its best seasons in years in 2022, Davenport North starts its competition season off here after hosting their home invite last weekend. Liberty has notched a couple solid finals appearances this year, and Naperville North will debut for the year after winning two grand championships last season. In 3A, Center Point-Urbana comes in hot after a solid third place finish at Anamosa last weekend, while Wahlert will look to regain its form after a leadership change in advance of this year. WWS Esprit can never be counted out as a finals contender either, finishing fourth at Bettendorf last year and sixth at Mt. Zion earlier this year.
Joplin In The Spotlight
The Lineup (all groups from Missouri unless noted)
5A: Broken Arrow “Tiger Rhythm” (OK), Carthage “Soundwave”, Jenks “Trojanaires” (OK), Neosho “Choraleers”, Webb City “Singers”
4A: McDonald County “Rhapsody ‘n Rhythm”, Nevada “Soundsational Singers”, Pleasant Hill “Hillside Singers”
3A: East Newton “Patriot Singers”, Hollister “Blue Harmony”, Mt. Vernon “Vocal Motion”, Seneca “Jive Tribe”
Womens: Broken Arrow “Tiger Mystique” (OK), Carthage “Suite Sounds”, Jenks “Trojan Spirit” (OK), Nevada “Treble Effects”, Neosho “Sugar & Spice”, Pleasant Hill “Hilltop Harmony”, Webb City “Bella Voce”
Mens: Neosho “Phenomenon”, Pleasant Hill “Powerhouse”, Webb City “DoMENance”
Prep: Broken Arrow “Tiger Momentum” (OK), Nevada “Vocal Fusion”
Middle School: Oliver “Tiger Genesis” (OK), Oneta Ridge “Tiger Fever” (OK), Centennial “Tiger Valor” (OK), Sequoyah “Tiger Legacy” (OK), Webb City “Polyphonics”, Carthage “Sound Machine”, Neosho “Wildcat Singers”, Nevada “Future Sounds”, Webb City “Euphonics”, Joplin “New Sounds”
The rest of the country sometimes sleeps on the pocket of show choir that exists in western Missouri and northeastern Oklahoma. That should end now. Joplin is loaded from top to bottom with rivalries new and old. Oklahoma’s two main power players, Broken Arrow and Jenks, match up with a who’s who of western Missouri choirs, including traditional powerhouse Pleasant Hill, last year’s undefeated Neosho, the always-dangerous Carthage, and this year’s upstart Webb City, whose womens group and mixed group have each claimed overall competition wins this season. That alone is a packed finals. A solid 3A division will be one that features a group of choirs that have been competing against each other for quite some time now and should be a fun division to watch. Additionally, with the Broken Arrow middle schools attending, Friday night has an even 10 choirs performing, of which four are from Oklahoma.
Northrop Classique
The Lineup (all choirs from Indiana unless noted):
Large Mixed: Carroll “Minstrel Magic”, Edgewood “Choraliers” (OH), Findlay “First Edition” (OH), Homestead “Class Royale”, Loveland “By Request” (OH)
Small Mixed: Austin “Dimensions”, Bellmont “Brave Generation”, Bishop Dwenger “Summit Sound”, Churubusco “New Era”, Columbia City “City Heat”, DeKalb “Classic Connection”, Garrett “Encore”, Lakeland “Vocal Motion”, Woodlan “Warrior Ambition”
Womens: Carroll “Select Sound”, Columbia City “City Lights”, Homestead “Elite”, Loveland “Allure”, Southmont “Sudden Impulse”
Middle School: Carroll “Electric Charge”, Churubusco “New Generation”, Loveland “Revolution” (OH), Maple Creek “MC Singers”, Memorial Park “78 Edition”, Northwood “Wave Of Youth”, Perrysburg “Golden Jackets” (OH), Shawnee “Sound Explosion”, Woodside/Summit “Class Act”
A couple of local Fort Wayne choirs (Carroll and Homestead) match up with a couple out-of-state visitors (Findlay and Loveland), with all four capable of putting on electric shows. Homestead had the edge on Carroll in 2022, and both are making their 2023 debuts. Findlay is also making its competition debut in 2023, while Loveland has a third and a first to its credit so far this year. Similar to Albertville, Northrop also has a killer undercard division. Austin is one of the hottest small mixed groups in Indiana right now, but this will be the largest field they’ve seen so far this year. Can Churubusco, Columbia City, or another group knock Dimensions off? With five mixed finalists, the winner of this division could find themselves in finals depending on where Edgewood scores. The womens finals will take three groups, with Carroll, Homestead and Loveland the favorites (in no particular order) to make up that finals field.
With so much going on, make sure to catch up on all of the crazy happenings that will occur this weekend in the COTW recap that will be live late this weekend!
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