The first weekend of February is known to be busy and crazy in the show choir world... it lived up to expectations on both counts this year!
Jackson Academy Show Choir Invitational Final Results
GC: Homewood “The Network” (BV)
1RU: Brandon “Brio” (BC/Overall Effect)
2RU: Grenada “Visions”
3RU: Tupelo “Synergy”
4RU: Homewood “Nexus”
Aaaand Homewood is right back to where they were. After a somewhat surprising loss to Auburn last weekend, Homewood was first in prelims and finals and had enough to outlast Brandon. Grenada was the standout of the competition, with Visions rocketing up to second in prelims. After an up-and-down season in 2023, 2024 seems like a #V4L kind of year. Brandon was right up where everyone expected it to be, taking choreo and overall effect. Tupelo qualified for finals out of the single-gender division and wound up just outside of the podium. Taking home the fifth spot in finals was Homewood Nexus, upsetting a number of large and superlarge groups such as Jackson Prep, Madison Central and Northwest Rankin to get a spot in the evening round.
Papillion-La Vista South Titan Classic Final Results
GC: Gretna “Revolution” (BV/BC/BB)
1RU: Hastings “Riverside Company”
2RU: Westside “Amazing Technicolor Show Choir”
3RU: Omaha South “The Ambassadors”
4RU: Elkhorn South “Blackout”
5RU: Westside “Simply Irresistible”
Any final doubts as to whether Gretna is for real have been thoroughly extinguished after this competition. Despite a breakout 2023 and a hot start to 2024, it takes time to become a household name in show choir. Revolution has just done that with a resounding sweep over two of the country’s elite programs. Gretna is now two-for-two on the season and will face off against Papio South this weekend at Elkhorn. Hastings moved up one notch from where they were at Bloomington Kennedy to end January and snagged a head-to-head win over ATSC. Someone had to finish third, and that’s where Westside landed. It feels weird to be into February and not see an ATSC win yet this season, but their time will come. Omaha South won the Battle of the Souths in what essentially the best of the rest competition. Simply Irresistible was able to beat St. Francis and Hastings Dynamic Edition for the last finals spot, leaving them with two finals berths on the year.
Troy Buchanan Show Choir Invitational Final Results
GC: Millard West “West in the Groove” (BV/BC/BB)
1RU: Mt. Zion “Swingsations”
2RU: Neosho “Choraleers”
3RU: Jenks “Trojanaires”
4RU: Glenwood “Titan Fever”
5RU: Mt. Zion “Les Femmes”
After being held without captions during its first competition of the season, WIG came storming back to claim all three major captions and five total captions at Troy. The Zack Bjornsen-led outfit was also first in prelims, giving them solid ground all throughout the day. Any doubts about Millard West’s ability to be competitive this year are gone. Neosho held the second spot after prelims, but Swings worked their old magic and was able to shimmy up to the first runner-up position in finals. Choraleers was still the only Missouri group to make finals and represented the home state very well. Regarded as the varsity group most likely to miss finals, Jenks took a statement fourth over Glenwood, a solid Illinois program. Mt. Zion Les Femmes cleared five other groups in the single-gender division, three groups in the prep division and Carthage to take the last spot in finals. Hot on their heels were Mt. Zion You’ve Got Male, Millard West Uptown and Neosho Sugar & Spice.
Waukee Northwest Nightfall Final Results
GC: Ankeny Centennial “Spectrum” (BV/BC)
1RU: Urbandale “Studio”
2RU: Waukee “Millennium”
3RU: Ankeny Centennial “Vortex”
4RU: Iowa City “4th Avenue Jazz Company”
5RU: Waukee “Spirit”
A comprehensive list of groups Ankeny Centennial has lost to this year: Linn-Mar. A comprehensive list of groups Urbandale has lost to this year: Ankeny Centennial. A comprehensive list of groups Waukee has lost to this year: Ankeny Centennial and Urbandale. This is why it’s so hard to go undefeated in the Des Moines metro area. Three of the area’s best came to battle it out, and one came out as the winner. Specturm scored its first win of the Caroline Edgeton era, and Vortex came home fourth to boot. Iowa City stole a bit of the spotlight with the best band award and a solid fifth-place showing. Waukee Spirit was the champion of the prep and womens division sweepstakes and is now able to add a solid finals berth to its resume, beating Urbandale Vitality and Ankeny Centennial Eternal Rush for the spot.
Wildcard: Bettendorf Rhythm on the Riverbend Final Results
GC: Waconia “Power Company” (BC/BB)
1RU: Wheaton Warrenville South “The Classics”
2RU: Pella “AcaPella” (BV)
3RU: Wheaton Warrenville South “Esprit”
4RU: Davenport North “Northside Establishment”
5RU: Liberty “Storm”
Waconia probably would have won at La Crosse Central, but they bailed out of a small comp there and made things much more interesting at Bettendorf. In the end, the results were pretty much what they would have been had PoCo gone to La Crosse Central – a win. It was more of an underdog win than anything, as The Classics still held an overwhelming lead in the court of public opinion prior to the competition. WWS has now been the bridesmaid in both of its competitions so far this year, falling to Lincoln Southwest at UNL and now Waconia here. One of the other major noisemakers in this competition was Pella. After performing very strongly in prelims at West Branch, they left before finals due to cold, leaving a big ‘what if’ on the table. AcaPella showed that they are very legitimate this season, taking the vocals caption away from the top two groups. Esprit cleared everybody else to take fourth, and Davenport North takes home a quality win over Liberty at the bottom of finals.
Check back later in the week for a primer on all that will be happening in show choir land this upcoming weekend!
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