By William Soquet, Editor-in-Chief
The first weekend of show choir season brought two winners that were widely expected, but some shakeups further on down the results.
Holmen Gathering
The Results
Grand Champion: Onalaska “Hilltoppers” (Best Vocals)
1st Runner Up: Sparta “Upstage Adrenaline” (Best Choreography/Best Band)
2nd Runner Up: La Crosse “River City Revolution”
3rd Runner Up: Sioux Falls Jefferson “Legacy”
4th Runner Up: Sauk Prairie “Executive Session”
5th Runner Up: Neenah “Vintage”
The Hilltoppers are back to their old ways, winning a season-opening competition yet again. The real newsmaker here is Sparta. Fresh off winning its first-ever competition at the close of last season, Upstage Adrenaline made a choreography switch to Kevin Chase and it immediately paid dividends, launching the group to second place and its second-ever Best Choreography caption. La Crosse also placed solidly in its first effort as a combined group, outplacing several in-state foes and the only out-of-state competitor. After placing 11th at Holmen a year ago, Neenah rebounds nicely with a finals appearance to round out the evening round. Vintage is another group that made a choreographer change before 2025, enlisting the services of Jeff Jordan. Reedsburg, last year’s sixth-place choir, did not make finals but did snag a trio of captions: Best Costumes, Best Crew, and Best Soloist (Hal LeMaster).
Tomah Cranberry Jamboree
The Results
GC: El Paso-Gridley “Modulations” (BV/BC/BB)
1RU: New London “Vision”
2RU: West Salem “Singsations”
3RU: El Paso-Gridley “Hi Fidelity”
4RU: Eau Claire Memorial “Old Abe Show Choir”
5RU: West Salem “Vivace”
With no high-profile or destination competition on the schedule this year, the most EPG can do is go scorched earth at each of the six competitions it attends. The season is off to a great start, with Mods taking all three major captions and a soloist award and HiFi making its first finals appearance since February 4, 2023. New London took its highest placement as a group since 2006, a great turnaround after last year’s season started with a distant 11th at Sauk Prairie. West Salem played its Clue-themed show to a podium spot, its first top-three appearance since 2020. Eau Claire Memorial extended its finals streak to 6 and hasn’t missed a finals round since January 2023. All three Wisconsin programs that made finals – New London, West Salem, and Eau Claire – will host competitions in the next month, so getting competition season off to the right start will be crucial as the momentum is disrupted.
As the show choir circuit expands this upcoming weekend, so will Comps of the Week! A full four-competition column will appear in advance of the January 11 competitions.
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