It was the last dance for Indiana, Ohio and South Dakota this weekend, with a midseason New England smackdown and a national comp to boot!
Andover New England Show Choir Showdown
Large Mixed Results:
1st: Cosby “Spotlight” (BV/BB)
2nd: Waltham “Music Unlimited”
3rd: Auburn “Varsity Singers” (BC)
4th: Daniel Hand “VIBE”
5th: South Windsor “Choral Spectrum”
6th: Shepherd Hill “Fantasy”
Small Mixed Winner: Natick “West Street Singers”
Single-Gender Winner: Cosby “Rhapsody”
Cosby has been on a roll these past two seasons in Virginia, but that’s a smaller, isolated circuit out on the east coast that doesn’t garner a ton of national attention. In a trip to a packed New England Show Choir Showdown, some doubted Spotlight’s ability to compete with a quartet of New England’s best choirs plus Auburn, making the drive up from Alabama. All of those doubts were put to rest as Spotlight came out on top, taking both vocals and band to extend their win streak to six. Rhapsody, in a rare Saturday appearance for them, also won in a full field of single-gender competitors. Waltham continued their late-season surge, as they were the top New England group in the field. Auburn took its third Best Choreography award of the season as they rounded out a four-event schedule for the year. South Windsor and Shepherd Hill both have great, impactful shows this year, but in a premier event like this, fifth and sixth may just be where they place. After losing small mixed for the first time ever earlier this season at Tantasqua, Natick is right back on top, taking vocals, choreo and show design over Bishop Hendricken.
Indiana State Large School Finals
Mixed Results
1st: Plainfield “Belles et Beaux” (BV/BC)
2nd: Fishers “Electrum”
4th: Lawrence North “Legacy”
Womens Results
1st: Fishers “Sound” (BV/BC)
2nd: Avon “Attraction”
3rd: Castle “Knightingales”
4th: Plainfield “Femmes Fatales”
While Plainfield was good enough last year that this season perhaps doesn’t qualify as a true breakout year, it’s still been a banner season for B&B. Lots of attention was given to their rematch with Fishers at this competition, and the scoresheets weren’t necessarily close. It is the first time since 2008 that the ISSMA Large mixed title has not gone to either North Central or Franklin Central. Avon, fresh off a loss to Blue Valley in Florida, rounded out the podium, and Lawrence North made another bit of noise this season to cap off what has been a year of growth for that program. Fishers Sound ripped off a six-for-six season in the womens division, taking both Best Vocals and Best Choreography each and every time. Castle Knightingales is the star of this division. Their previous best finish of the season was fourth, accomplished twice, but they burst out of a crowded pack of contenders to take a podium spot here.
Marysville Showcase
Final Results
GC: North Central “Counterpoints” (BV/BC/BB)
1RU: Petal “Soundsations”
2RU: Carroll “Magic”
3RU: Beavercreek “Friends”
4RU: Olentangy “Keynotes”
Womens Finals
GC: North Central “Descants” (BV/BB)
1RU: Carroll “Select Sound”
2RU: Petal “Innovations”
The national billing of Showcase lived up to the hype, as the top three spots in the competition were all taken by out-of-state groups. North Central skipped out on ISSMA this year and instead jetted out-of-state, where they took care of business anyways. That’s true in multiple ways: Counterpoints took home a convincing sweep over Petal, and Descants won their first division since Plainfield in 2019. It’s a fine way for director Michael Raunick to go out: on top. Soundsations was a group that some observers held doubts about following a Mar. 9 contest at Biloxi, where they split captions with Keller Central. While it may not be a win, Petal still showed that southern choirs are a very legitimate threat everywhere they go outside of the region. Magic found a groove at third place this year, racking up four of those placements in seven appearances this year. Beavercreek is a group that also exhibited growth throughout the season, as they flipped the script on Olentangy from an earlier matchup between the two at Loveland in February.
Mitchell Show Choir Classic
Final Results
GC: Millard West “West in the Groove” (BV/BC/BB)
1RU: Omaha South “The Ambassadors”
2RU: Sioux City East “The Headliners”
3RU: Aberdeen Central “Eagle Express”
4RU: Bishop Heelan “Harmonia Mundi”
5RU: Millard West “Swing Cats”
What started out as getting swept in their first competition of the year turned into a trademark WIG season for Millard West. The Zack Bjornsen-led outfit rolled to three wins this year, including a signature ‘away game’ at Troy Buchanan in Missouri. That strong season wouldn’t be possible without a great close, which Millard West did at Mitchell. WIG took home the win and all three major captions, while Uptown won the womens division and Swing Cats qualified for finals. After three fourth-place finishes to start the season, Omaha South rounded into form in the back half, never finishing lower than second during the stretch run. Aberdeen Central looks to have cooled off just a little bit after a red-hot start at the beginning of the season, but they were still the only in-state group in finals. In what is perhaps the first-ever competitive mens division in South Dakota show choir history, Bishop Heelan took home the win over Sioux City East.
Heart of America Orlando
Final Results
GC: Clinton “Attache” (BV/BC)
1RU: Omaha Westside “Amazing Technicolor Show Choir” (BB)
2RU: Madison Central “Reveille”
3RU: Clinton Middle “Ambassadors”
4RU: Boulder Creek “Broadway Bound”
Another offseason of alleged turmoil in the Clinton program turns into yet another season of Clinton predicted to lose wherever they go, which turns into another season of Clinton continuing their tradition of winning. It’s another tally of three for Attache, who won all three major Southern captions (vocals, choreo and show design). ATSC looked to bring a good fight to Clinton after an electric finals performance, and they did win the band caption, but in the end the group picked up its third second-place finish of the year. Madison Central has consistently grown this year under new director Leigha Nix, going from missing finals to fifth to fourth to third in its four-competition schedule. When opportunity knocks, Clinton Middle School answers. It’s a rare sight for a middle school choir to make a high school finals (see Fairfield at Marion Harding in 2019), especially one that was swept earlier in the season. Despite that, Ambassadors placed fourth. Boulder Creek was perhaps the quietest group in finals, slotting in fifth. For a group that has been to stacked California and New England events in recent seasons, going to a smaller competition was a change of pace for them, but did allow for the opportunity to perform in finals.
Several show choir circuits are still going, so make sure to be on the lookout for the next Comps of the Week columns as the season heads towards April!