An epic Nebraska showdown, an Ohio choir keeps on a tear, an Illinois choir bests an Indiana field, and a split-caption Alabama contest highlight this week’s recap!
Findlay FEst Final Results
GC: Piqua “The Company” (BV/BB)
1RU: Ross “Legacy” (BC)
2RU: Grove City “Touch of Class”
3RU: Solon “Music in Motion”
4RU: Huntington North “Varsity Singers”
5RU: Garfield Heights “Music Express”
COTW and COTW recaps have covered Piqua at length, but they are truly one of the show choir stories of the year so far in 2023. Go watch their show if you haven’t yet, you won’t regret it. Ross manages to grab a choreo caption away from Piqua, becoming the third group to do so in three different competitions. They set themselves up very solidly for the rest of the season, as did Grove City. Solon and Huntington North both take home finals hardware. Solon will see Piqua again this weekend at Hurricane in a smaller three-choir large mixed division. Huntington North heads back to Indiana with a nice placement to their name. Despite a late drop to the small mixed division, Garfield Heights still transfers into finals, beating out two large mixed groups in the process. After missing finals, Lebanon will also see less large mixed competition this weekend, seeing only one other large mixed choir at Marion Harding.
Franklin Community ShowFest Final Results
Large Mixed
1st: Mt. Zion “Swingsations” (BC/BB)
2nd: Fairfield “Choraliers” (BV)
3rd: Medina “Encore Entertainment Company”
4th: Marquette “Center Stage”
5th: Ben Davis “Premiers”
6th: Indian Creek “Rhythmaires”
Small Mixed
1st: Pendleton Heights “Pendletones” (BV/BC)
2nd: Edgewood “Music Warehouse” (BB)
3rd: Whiteland “Rhythm Masters”
4th: Decatur Central “Goldenaires”
5th: Donelson Christian “Legacy”
6th: Lebanon “Charisma”
You know it’s a blue moon when the top choir from the home state comes out in fifth place in the large mixed division. Mt. Zion comes home with about their one millionth grand championship in recorded history, but Fairfield managed to grab the vocals caption from them. After a down year (for Fairfield standards), they come storming back right into the thick of the elite Midwest scene. They have put the entire lower Midwest on alert with their second-place performance. Medina comes home with a third place that most likely belies their potency as a group, and they are the odds-on favorite to win Walsh Jesuit this upcoming weekend. Marquette takes a strong placement back to Missouri as well. In small mixed, Pendleton Heights triumphs after an initial scoring error that left them in second place. Edgewood clearly gave them a close enough fight that the scores could be mixed up, and Whiteland proved that the move to small mixed was the right one, coming home on the podium.
Omaha Westside Competition of Excellence Final Results
GC: Millard West “West in the Groove” (BV/BC)
1RU: Papillion-La Vista South “Titanium” (BB)
2RU: Grand Island “Ultimate Image”
3RU: Elhorn South “Blackout”
4RU: Omaha South “The Ambassadors”
5RU: Millard West “Uptown”
A clash between two of Nebraska’s Big Three lived up to its billing and then some. Despite the unfortunate withdrawal of Mitchell Friend de Coup due to adverse weather conditions, COE still had an incredibly stacked finals field. WIG winds up besting Titanium with two of the major captions, continuing their roll this year. Their womens group Uptown also qualified as the sixth finalist, contributing to the Millard West party. Grand Island bests a few Omaha-area choirs for the final podium spot. Elkhorn South extends their streak of consecutive finals appearances to 15, which is one of the more underrated streaks of its kind in the country. They will face off against crosstown Elkhorn North at Elkhorn next weekend. Omaha South continues to mix it up in multiple tough competitions, coming out no worse for the wear with a solid fifth-place finish in what is their third COTW appearance of the year.
Tallassee Capital City Classic Final Results
(BSD is Best Show Design; the South usually awards show design and not band as the third major caption.)
Large Mixed
1st: Homewood “The Network” (BV/BSD)
2nd: Auburn “Varsity Singers” (BC)
3rd: Tift County “8th Street Singing Company”
Middle Mixed – Large School
1st (tie): Spain Park “Rhapsody in Blue” (BV (tie)/BSD)
1st (tie): Hoover “Paradigm” (BV (tie)/BC (tie))
3rd: Vestavia Hills “Singers”
4th: Albertville “CenterStage!” (BC (tie))
Middle Mixed – Small School
1st: Homewood “Continuum” (BV/BC/BSD)
2nd: Opelika “Ovations”
3rd: Appling County “Applause”
4th: Helena “Spotlight”
After winning Tallassee for most of the last decade, Homewood breaks through with vocals and show design. Auburn kept it a fight, and chances are that Tift County wasn’t too terribly far behind either. The middle mixed large school category has one of the most mind-bending awards breakdowns you’ll ever see, with vocals a tie between first and second, choreo a tie between second and fourth, and first a tie between two groups that claimed at least a share of two of the three major caption awards. Try to think about that five times fast. Hoover and Albertville really stand out in that division. It’s the first time in the showchoir.com database that Hoover has claimed a share of a division championship at any competition, so major kudos to them. Albertville, in its first competition with former South Jones and Sullivan director Chris Wilson, brings home a share of a caption, which is perhaps a sign of good things to come with them.
With the calendar turning to February, many competition circuits are kicking into high gear. Check back midweek for another big edition of Comps of the Week!
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