These rankings are a collection of HRSC's Indiana voters' four-member blind ballot designed to come to a consensus ranking. This week, the Indiana team of contributors expanded how many groups they rank to give light to more groups in the hyper-competitive Indianapolis scene. With all that out of the way, let's take a look at where the groups stand going into week five of the main season!
Large Mixed:
Carmel “Ambassadors”
Center Grove “Sound System”
Franklin Central “FC Singers”
North Central “Counterpoints”
Zionsville “Royalaires”
Plainfield “Belles et Beaux”
Brownsburg “Spotlight Singers & Company”
Fishers “Electrum”
Noblesville “NHS Singers”
Lafayette Jefferson “First Edition”
Carroll “Magic”
Avon “Accents”
Chesterton “Sandpipers”
Lawrence North “Legacy”
Ben Davis “Premiers”
Large Single-Gender:
Carmel “Accents”
Fishers “Sound”
Center Grove “Debtones”
Franklin Central “High Voltage”
Avon “Attraction”
Brownsburg “Starlight Voices”
Plainfield “Femmes Fatales”
Zionsville “Choralaires”
North Central “Descants”
Noblesville “New Dimension”
Lawrence North “Bella Bravada”
Carroll “Select Sound
Lawrence Central “Sweets”
Chesterton “Drifters”
Franklin Community “Sensation”
Small Mixed:
Roncalli “Royal Rhapsody”
Pendleton Heights “Pendletones”
Huntington North “Varsity Singers”
New Castle “Red Hot Blues”
Edgewood “Music Warehouse”
Columbus North “Vocal Pointe”
Northridge “Northern Lights”
Pike “Encores”
Austin “Dimensions”
Cathedral “Adrenaline Rush”
Small Single-Gender:
Pendleton Heights “Emerald Suites”
Huntington North “Viking Volume”
Edgewood “Sophisticated Ladies”
Northridge “Starlights”
Norwell “Knight Stars”
Columbus North “North Stars”
New Castle “Dynamiques”
Whiteland “Expressions”
Cathedral “Irish Adrenaline”
Jay County “Just Treble”
Brownsburg Back Up
Both Brownsburg groups launched their way into the top seven from outside of the top ten after strong showings in their competition debut at the Pendleton Heights Arabian Spectacular. Brownsburg’s mixed group, Spotlight Singers & Company, took Best Vocals from the Zionsville Royalaires, while their girls group, Starlight Voices, took home a grand championship and Best Choreography caption over the Zionsville Choralaires. Next week, both groups will go up against two members of the Big Three (Carmel and Center Grove), which will be a much more challenging test.
Huntington North Outclasses Large Mixed Competition
Huntington North Varsity Singers, a small mixed group, defeated two large mixed groups, Avon Accents and Homestead Class Royale, on their way to a grand championship and caption sweep at the DeKalb Choir Festival. The win moves them into the top three of the small mixed rankings, alongside Indianapolis powerhouses Roncalli and Pendleton Heights.
Belles et Beaux Moves Forward with Second Win
Plainfield Belles et Beaux makes a modest move from 7th to 6th after grabbing their second grand championship of the season at the Ben Davis “Giant Spectacular.” After falling by less than a point at the Ball State “Mid-America Show Choir Championships” to the Noblesville “NHS Singers,” Plainfield has won their last two competitions against competition outside of the top fifteen.
Top Five in Both Large Divisions remain static
Ahead of a Power Five faceoff at Franklin Central, the favorites took care of business. Both Carmel groups defeated feisty Brandon groups at Chesterton. FC Singers and Fishers Sound swept both captions at Center Grove over Power Five competition. The Zionsville Royalaires stay undefeated with a win at Pendleton over an improved Brownsburg group. Finally, Avon Attraction took home their first grand championship of the season at the Dekalb Choir Festival after strong showings at Decatur Central and Plainfield.
Norwell Astounds With Incredibly Small Numbers
Norwell Knight Stars takes the fifth-place spot on our small single-gender rankings this week. This group is only comprised of 12 members, but don’t be fooled. Norwell is a little famous for their fantastic vocals and interesting show designs. This year, Knight Stars performs a show about experiencing an earthquake while at a party. Through energizing dance breaks and an a capella ballad, this group is sure to appease any audience member.
Are Small Division Choirs More Competitive Than the Large?
When looking at rankings, it’s often easy to only focus on the larger and more well known schools. What some miss, however, is the true competition going on in the smaller division. The majority of choirs that perform in Indiana are a part of the small division, not the large. This creates many rivalries and forces small choirs to always perform at 150%. It’s not unusual to see a smaller choir place higher than a larger choir. Keep an eye on that in the weeks to come!
After Huntington tied for best Visuals with Findlay at Homestead, I knew this was going to be an amazing year for Varsity Singers. Can't wait to see how well they do the rest of the season.