The calendar has flipped to March, which means that most shows are now in prime shape! Tough matchups will be had all across the country this weekend.
Avon Vocal Invitational
The Lineup (groups from Indiana unless noted)
Large Mixed: Brownsburg “Spotlight Singers & Company”, Castle “Knight Sensations”, Fishers “Electrum”, Lawrence Central “Central Sound”, Lawrence North “Legacy”, Plainfield “Belles et Beaux”
Small Mixed: Mooresville “Spotlighters”, New Castle “Red Hot Blues”, Pendleton Heights “Pendletones”
Open Mixed: Danville “Delegation” (IL), Franklin Central “Encores”, Indian Creek “Rhythmaires”
Large Womens: Brownsburg “Starlight Voices”, Castle “Knightingales”, Danville “Contemporaires” (IL), Fishers “Sound”, Lawrence Central “Sweets”, Lawrence North “Bella Bravada”, Plainfield “Femmes Fatales”
Small Womens: Anderson Prep “Adoration Sound”, Mooresville “Finesse”, Pendleton Heights “Emerald Suites”, Pendleton Heights “New Edition”, Southmont “Sudden Impulse”
Prep: Danville “Executives” (IL), Franklin Central “Flight”
While Lafayette Jefferson may have the big-name choirs, AVI has quite the depth here. Fishers, Brownsburg and Plainfield all sit in the back half of the top ten in HRSC’s Indiana Large Mixed rankings. In fact, Electrum and Spotlight Singers & Co. recently had a tight battle in finals at the Franklin Central Hoosier Show Choir Classic, with Electrum barely taking the nod. Plainfield will look to be a disrupter in the party, as they are one caption and placement away from a perfect season thus far this year. With only four large mixed finals spots, the battle for the fourth spot will be intense in prelims. Lawrence North is a little bit of a breakout choir here, and a finals berth over their crosstown contemporary Central and southern stalwart Castle would cement that reputation. In large womens, Fishers has gone on a tear this year. They will look to defend that against anybody who may want to challenge them. While less populous than large mixed, Small Mixed features an intriguing battle between New Castle and Pendleton Heights, with Pendletones maybe a slight step ahead before the event.
Burbank Blast!
The Lineup (groups from California unless noted)
Advanced Mixed I: John Burroughs “Powerhouse”, Los Alamitos “Sound FX”
Advanced Mixed II: Brea Olinda “Masquerade”, Diamond Bar “Marquis”, Hart “Sound Vibrations”, Jackson Prep “Reveillon” (MS)
Intermediate Mixed: Cypress “High Voltage”, Eisenhower “Ike Singers”, Granada Hills “G-Notes”, John A. Rowland “Infusion”, John Burroughs “Sound Waves”, Los Alamitos “Connexion”, Martin Luther King “Legacy”, Oceanside “Soundwaves”, Saugus “Blue Heat”
Advanced Womens I: Los Alamitos “Soundtrax”, John Burroughs “Sound Sensations”
Advanced Womens II: Brea Olinda “Spellbound”, Hart “Heartbreakers”, Los Alamitos “Xquisite”
Intermediate Womens: Brea Olinda “Tiffanys”, Cypress “Pink Thunder”, Diamond Bar “Solitare”, John Burroughs “Decibelles”, Los Alamitos “Axcent”, Oceanside “High Seas”
Mens: Cypress “Voltage Unlimited”, Diamond Bar “Radiant”, Hart “Unleashed”, John Burroughs “Men@Work”, Los Alamitos “Xtreme”
While competitions have been going on in California since the second weekend of February, Burbank is the first truly large event to grace the west coast show choir scene. The headlining matchup is at the top, where Los Alamitos will make its season debut and John Burroughs will face competition in division for the first time this season. Burroughs had the score that generally scored better last year – but it also ran over multiple time limits throughout the course of the season. Where will California’s top two choirs stand this year? It is anybody’s guess. Jackson Prep comes over from Mississippi to spice up the other advanced mixed division, where Brea will make its season debut and face off against Hart, who was close to winning Esperanza this past weekend. In a curious move, Blast has no novice mixed division. This means that several traditional novice choirs (Eisenhower, Saugus, Martin Luther King) will face off against what would already be a full-bore intermediate division. Los Al and Burroughs always bring good shows, and Oceanside was a choir on the rise last year.
Lewis Central Clash of the Titans
The Lineup (groups from Nebraska unless noted)
4A: Lincoln East “Express”, Millard South “South on Stage”, Millard West “West in the Groove”, Omaha Westside “Amazing Technicolor Show Choir”, Papillion-La Vista South “Titanium”, Sioux Falls Jefferson “Legacy” (SD), Southlake Carroll “The SLC” (TX)
2A: Denison “Singing Ambassadors” (IA), Missouri Valley “MoShow” (IA)
Womens: Lincoln East “Elegance”, Millard South “Stage One”, Millard West “Uptown”, Omaha Westside “Simply Irresistible”, Papillion-La Vista South “Titan Radiance”, Sioux Falls Jefferson “Revelry” (SD)
Prep: Lincoln East “Elevation”, Millard West “Swing Cats”, Omaha Westside “Warrior Express”, Papillion-La Vista South “Titan Express”
For a competition in Iowa, this has a grand total of two choirs from the home state attending. However, Clash of the Titans has two things going for it: one, it is very close to the Nebraska border, and two, it certainly does live up to its name this year. The premier division features Nebraska’s legacy Big Three: Omaha Westside, Papio South and Millard West. 2024 is a new breed of season, however, and those three choirs have combined for three wins this year across three different states. Which group entered has three wins this season? Lincoln East, who is riding high off a massive W at Norris last weekend. Express beat Ankeny Centennial, Lincoln Southwest, Papio South and Papio in what was the most competitive Nebraska events of the year. They will look to pull off the feat again this weekend to close out their season. A cadre of interesting characters round out the cast here. Millard South has been impressive at points this year, Sioux Falls Jefferson has run a little bit of a nomadic schedule, and sophomore choir Southlake Carroll is making the drive up from Texas.
Totino-Grace Show Choir Spectacular
The Lineup (groups from Minnesota unless noted)
Mixed: Altoona “Locomotion” (WI), Bemidji “Vocalmotive”, Gretna “Revolution” (NE), Hastings “Riverside Company”, Holmen “Midwest Express” (WI), La Crosse Central “Grand Central Station” (WI), North St. Paul “Northern Lights”, Onalaska “Hilltoppers” (WI), South St. Paul “SouthSide Sensation”, St. Francis “Bridge Street Singers”, Vermillion “Rhythm in Red” (SD)
Womens: Bemidji “La Voce Ballo”, Hastings “Dynamic Edition”
Prep: Colby “The Coalition” (WI), Gretna “Evolution” (NE), New Prague “Emotion”
Totino-Grace is Minnesota’s oldest and most reputable show choir competition, and it certainly drew as such this year. Similar to Hastings, the lineup comes from a diverse array of states, including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska and South Dakota. Gretna and Hastings had a big matchup at Papillion-La Vista South at the beginning of February. Revolution took the win and Riverside was second, but the door remains open for anything and everything at the end of the season. Behind them, Onalaska looks to be a solid number three choirs before the floodgates burst for potential finalists. Bemidji is a winner this year, but missed finals last weekend. La Crosse Central hasn’t competed since Feb. 10. Holmen and North St. Paul are both coming off sixth-place efforts last weekend. Where those choirs fall will be anybody’s guess.
Wildcard: Glenwood The Event
With victories in both the X poll and Instagram poll, Glenwood takes the title of this week’s wildcard competition.
The Lineup (groups from Illinois unless noted)
Varsity: El Paso-Gridley “Modulations”, Manteno “Magic”, Marquette “Center Stage” (MO), Mt. Zion “Swingsations”, Peoria “Soundwave”, Waubonsie Valley “Sound Check”
Festival: Pekin “Noteables”, Peotone “Powerhouse”, Unity “Vocal Rush”
Single-Gender: El Paso-Gridley “Hi Fidelity”, Mt. Zion “Les Femmes”, Mt. Zion “You’ve Got Male”, Waubonsie Valley “Resonance”
The Event has only 13 competing high school groups, but the lineup features several in-state heavyweights. El Paso-Gridley rides into this one seemingly even higher than they were in 2022, when they took Illinois by storm. Mt. Zion is in only its third competition of the season, and its first in the state of Illinois. Swings will look to claim their first win of the season here. Manteno charged to a win at El Paso-Gridley two weekends ago over Glenwood, and Magic is in the drivers seat to take home a podium position here, if not better. Waubonsie Valley has a win and a second to their name this year, and Marquette is an often slept-on choir in Missouri. In the festival division, Unity is coming off a second-place finish at Southmont and is the favorite. The single-gender division will see a showdown where the winner of HiFi, Les Femmes and YGM will have substantial bragging rights.
The action takes place on the stage, but the analysis happens on homeroomshowchoir.com! As always, a recap column covering anything that may happen at these competitions will be up early next week.
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