By Michael McHargh, Ohio contributor
After a Beavercreek event that was packed from top to bottom, the panel of regional expert voters submitted their thoughts about 25 of Ohio's top show choirs. These are the results, with plenty of shakeups from last week.
Large Mixed
Solon “Music in Motion” (+2, 2 first-place votes)
Marysville “Swingers Unlimited” (-1, 2 first-place votes)
ETC “The All Americans” (-1)
Grove City “Touch of Class” (+1)
Findlay “First Edition” (-1)
Loveland “By Request” (No Change)
Piqua “The Company” (NC)
Fairfield “Choraliers” (NC)
Beavercreek “Friends” (NC)
Marion Harding “Harding Singers” (Not Ranked last week)
Receiving Votes: Olentangy "Keynotes"
News and Notes
Solon “flies” to the top of the ranking with their fantastic win at Beavercreek this past weekend, claiming the vocal and choreography captions over a very tough field. The panelists thought it enough to cumulatively move MIM up two spots.
Grove City rises above the long-time titan Findlay with their impressive podium placement grab this weekend as well, securing their standing above Loveland and Piqua.
Marion Harding makes their break into the top ten with their finals appearance at Nitro this weekend.
A finals appearance at Beavercreek was not enough for Olentangy to stay in the rankings, as they Keynotes fell from tenth despite placing sixth.
Small Mixed
Twinsburg “Great Expectations” (NC, 2 first-place votes)
Edgewood “Choraliers” (NC, 2 first-place votes)
Ross “Legacy” (+3)
Buckeye Valley “Visions” (-1)
North Royalton “Royal Harmony” (NC)
Mayfield “Limited Edition” (+2)
Medina “Encore Entertainment Company” (-3)
Kenton “Top Twenty” (-1)
Garfield Heights “Music Express” (NR)
Hamilton “Prestige” (NC)
Receiving Votes: Lebanon "Singers", St. Clairsville "St. C Singers", Alliance "Jet Setters", Teays Valley "Prominent Rendition", Strongsville "Mustang Express"
News and Notes
Well, this is a bit of an interesting one. Nobody in the top ten competed last weekend, so in theory, there should have been no changes, right? Wrong. With the season getting closer, each passing day gives way to more show reveals, preview shows, video clips, and everything else that comes along with that. The panel used this extra information to adjust where they see the small mixed field heading into one of the biggest weekends of the year for this division.
Five of the top ten small mixed groups (plus Alliance and Strongsville, who both received votes this week) will face off at North Royalton. While there's a chance that an out-of-state choir will take the overall win, how the Ohio choirs shake out in finals and in daytime division placings will set the standard for many of these choirs as they enter the core competition season.
Single-Gender
ETC “Rouge” (NC, 4 first-place votes)
Fairfield “Pure Elegance” (NC)
Grove City “Class Act” (NC)
Loveland “Allure” (NC)
Marysville “Swingers Select” (NC)
Receiving Votes: Olentangy "She-Notes"
News and Notes
Rankings remain the same after the results of Beavercreek and Jay County this past weekend. ETC Rouge holds strong after placing just behind their own program’s mixed group in finals, and Grove City maintained their spot over Loveland and Olentangy in a dense womens field at Beavercreek.