By William Soquet, Editor-in-Chief
Show choir competition season is officially in full swing. This week’s headlining competitions include several of Ohio’s best converging on Cincinnati, a handful of top Nebraska groups aiming for each other yet again, a three-headed showdown in St. Louis and a massive early-season gathering of New England choirs.
Loveland Showfest
The Lineup (groups from Ohio unless noted)
Large Mixed: Beavercreek “Friends”, ETC “The All Americans”, Fairfield “Choraliers”, Hamilton “Prestige”, Hurricane “Red Hot” (WV), Lebanon “Singers”, Olentangy “Keynotes”
Small Mixed: Bradley Central “Vocal Motion” (TN), Columbus East “Center Stage” (IN), Norwood “The Silhouettes”, Portsmouth “Expressions”, Ravenswood “Rave Revue” (WV), Ross “Legacy”, South Dearborn “Opening Knight” (IN)
Womens: Columbus East “Center Stage” (IN), ETC ”Rouge”, Fairfield “Pure Elegance”, Hurricane “Heat Wave” (WV), Olentangy “She-Notes”
Full Preview: Loveland Showfest Gathers the Region's Best
After a couple weekends of competition that catered more to the smaller groups, Ohio comes roaring back to life with a deep lineup of large mixed contenders at Loveland. Hurricane cleaned house at Nitro to start the season, while ETC also has a win to its name so far this season. Olentangy staged an upstart bid for second last weekend at Hurricane, beating Loveland and putting them on the radar. Fairfield will debut their show this weekend, and Beavercreek will factor into the finals discussion as well. Small mixed is quite the exotic division. Bradley Central, who saw much success in Ohio last season, makes the trip up from Chattanooga. Ravenswood makes the three-hour trek over from West Virginia, Portsmouth comes from basically Kentucky, and of all the groups, South Dearborn and Columbus actually don’t have terribly long drives. Who wins the division is really anyone’s guess, although Ross has shown flashes this season.
Papillion-La Vista South Titan Classic
The Lineup (all groups from Nebraska)
Mixed: Elkhorn South “Blackout”, Gretna “Revolution”, Lincoln East “Express”, Millard North “Infinity”, Omaha South “The Ambassadors”, Westside “Amazing Technicolor Show Choir”
Womens: Elkhorn South “Shockwave”, Lincoln East “Elegance”, Marian “Momentum”, Millard North “Illumination”, Omaha South “Amplify”, Westside “Simply Irresistible”
Prep: Elkhorn South “Power Surge”, Gretna “Evolution”, Lincoln East “Elevation”, Millard North “Intensity”, Platteview “Platinum”, Westside “Warrior Express”
Does this lineup of groups seem familiar? That’s because they are. The trio of Elkhorn South, Omaha South, and Millard North have all gone to Gretna, Lincoln East, and now Papio South. At South Titan Classic, they will face off against Westside, who is currently riding a three-competition win streak, and Gretna, who narrowly lost at Standing Bear its last time out. Add in a Lincoln East group that is also a competition winner so far this season and the end result is a finals round that will definitely be tight. Perhaps the only consolation is that there are only six varsity mixed groups, so there’s no tight decision between who makes finals and who doesn’t. The womens and prep divisions will feature hotly contested battles as well. Shockwave was the winner of the womens division at Lincoln East; they’ll match up with a Simply Irresistible group that has only lost to Brandon Bellas so far this year. Warrior Express has won its division both times out so far this year, while Evolution crashed the finals party at Standing Bear, placing fifth. Whoever the winners of each division are, they will certainly have fought hard for it and earned it.
Troy Buchanan Show Choir Invitational
The Lineup (groups from Missouri unless noted)
Large Mixed: Battle “Battalion”, Blue Valley “Chamber Singers” (KS), Marquette “Center Stage”, Mt. Zion “Swingsations” (IL), Nevada “Soundsational Singers”, Urbandale “Studio” (IA)
Small Mixed: Blue Valley “Classic Blend” (KS), Green Ridge “Harmony”, Sullivan “Singers” (IL), Urbandale “Vitality” (IA)
Single-Gender: Mt. Zion “Les Femmes“, Mt. Zion “You’ve Got Male“, Nevada “Treble Effects“, Urbandale “Affinity“
Three top groups head to Troy with vastly different stories to tell. Urbandale has brought its Home Alone show to two competitions so far this year, and the placements have been a bit lower than the Studio standard. Blue Valley won three of its four competitions in 2024 en route to becoming arguably the nation’s fastest-growing show choir program that season. After hosting three weekends ago, they now arrive at their first competition of the year. Mt. Zion did not host in January this year, and Swings will now hit their first public performance. These three groups will engage in a mighty battle for the top step of the podium. Urbandale has only one more competition left this season after Troy, a showdown of even greater proportion at Norris. Studio’s nine-season win streak will be on the line if they are not victorious here. Behind the top three groups, the door is wide open for anyone to take fourth. Marquette, bringing some local flavor to the event, would be a smart pick. Center Stage ventured to southwest Missouri two weeks ago and brought home second place. Urbandale Vitality made finals at its most recent competition as well. Of the single-gender groups, Mt. Zion Les Femmes and Nevada Treble Effects stand the best shot of advancing to the evening round.
Wildcard: Tantasqua Show Choir Spectacular
The Lineup (groups from Massachusetts unless noted)
Large Mixed: Andover “From Start to Finish”, Daniel Hand “VIBE” (CT), Lowell “Sound Impressions”, South Windsor “Choral Spectrum” (CT), Waltham “Music Unlimited”
Small Mixed: Bishop Hendricken “Paramount” (RI), Brockton “Harmonics”, Leominster “Ignition”, Natick “West Street Singers”, Scranton “First Edition” (PA), Shepherd Hill “Fantasy”, Somerset Berkley “Electrify”
Single-Gender: Andover “Back to Bass-ics”, Andover “Nothin’ But Treble”, Scranton “Glitter & Gold” (PA), Shepherd Hill “Illusion”
Similar to the aforementioned Troy Buchanan, Tanty is looking to have a three-horse race for the top spot. Waltham showed shades of their impressive 2022 season in a two-caption win last week, earning vocals and choreo captions while beating Daniel Hand. VIBE, meanwhile, has a show this year that can perhaps best be described as Los Alamitos-style. South Windsor ended last season with a win… over Waltham. Choral Spectrum did not compete last weekend and will debut their show this weekend. Andover was a surprise podium finisher last weekend and can turn more heads with an equally solid showing this weekend. Somerset and Shepherd Hill both dropped from large mixed to small mixed for this year. They will look to factor into an absolutely stacked division that also includes small mixed heavyweight Scranton, a new-look Natick and perennial contender Bishop Hendricken. Brockton, a surprise podium placer last weekend, could make noise as well.