By Ava Sammons, Iowa contributor
It’s not super often that new competitions come up in a state that hosts as many as Iowa. Liberty has revived their competition after its first (and only) attempt at a contest was cancelled in 2018. Despite its newness, Storm The Stage’s lineup is a late-season meetup for many of eastern Iowa’s most competitive choirs. All of this year’s mixed groups, with the exception of Waukee and Kansas City's Raymore-Peculiar, are traveling locally for a chance at ending their season on a high note. This weekend is also the last scheduled regional competition for every choir so the desire to compete well is as high as ever.
Prep Division
Cedar Rapids Washington “Celebration”
Davenport West “Harmonics”
Prairie “Focal Point”
Waukee “Spirit”
All four prep groups are looking to give their best performance of the season this weekend since this is each group’s last competition. Waukee Spirit is the only choir in this lineup to have taken a win so far this season or make finals as a prep group. The odds of them coming out on top are likely, but it’s hard to say what will happen against new competitors and in a new part of the state. The two choirs with the most experience this season, Celebration and Focal Point, will put on solid performances for their final competition and will probably place behind Spirit. However, Davenport West Harmonics could put up a fight after three weeks off. Liberty’s prep division is considerably smaller than their mixed division, but competitive nonetheless.
Mixed Division
Bettendorf “Surround Sound”
Cedar Rapids Kennedy “Happiness, Inc.”
Cedar Rapids Washington “Momentum”
Davenport West “West Connection”
Linn-Mar “10th Street Edition”
Prairie “The Ambassadors”
Raymore-Peculiar “Rush” (MO)
Waukee “Millennium”
Linn-Mar is looking like a top pick for this weekend’s winner after a big win at Chesterton in Indiana. 10th Street Edition traveled to one of the country’s biggest competitions and beat out renowned Indiana choir Carmel two weeks ago. Waukee and Cedar Rapids Kennedy have also had successful seasons, so the likelihood of them placing right behind Linn-Mar is high. Cedar Rapids Kennedy has won their last two competitions and have overall seen higher placements this season than they have previously. Waukee has also had a highly successful season under new director Tony Dam. Millennium placed first during week one at Des Moines Christian, followed by two second-place finishes. These runner up spots are still a testament to the quality of Waukee’s show considering the competitiveness within Des Moines’s circuit.
Prairie also has the potential to beat out a top group this weekend. They managed to make their way back into the top three at Indianola last weekend, but will have their work cut out for them to beat out the earlier mentioned groups. Other choirs at Liberty this weekend will be giving it their all to snag one of the last two spots in finals. Two of the four groups from Davenport West, Bettendorf, Cedar Rapids Washington, and Raymore-Peculiar will round out the finals competition this weekend. Since Liberty is the last scheduled competition for all of these choirs, the stakes to make finals seem just a little bit higher than they were in weeks before.
Final Predictions
GC: Linn-Mar “10th Street Edition”
1RU: Waukee “Millennium”
2RU: Cedar Rapids Kennedy “Happiness, Inc.”
3RU: Prairie “The Ambassadors”
4RU: Cedar Rapids Washington “Momentum”
5RU: Bettendorf “Surround Sound”
Looking at this lineup, one choir pops out as a pretty obvious winner. Nationally renowned and #1 ranked Linn-Mar currently holds a 16 competition win-streak and isn’t slowing down any time soon. 10th Street Edition hasn’t dropped a single major caption all season so it’s safe to say they have this one in the bag. Waukee will likely come up behind them, having only lost to two of Iowa’s top choirs. Their vocal intensity and enticing storyline give them an edge over some of Liberty’s other groups. Happiness, Inc. looks like the group that will finish off the podium since they haven’t placed below third all season. Adding Lexi Robson to their choreography team has done good things for their performance quality and will continue to do so this weekend. Prairie has placed all over the board this season but is the only of the remaining five groups to have made finals at every competition. The Ambassadors went head to head with Momentum earlier this season and came out above them so the case will probably be the same this weekend. Cedar Rapids Washington and Bettendorf have had the next best seasons so far, so they will likely grab the last two finals spots from Raymore-Peculiar and Davenport West.