By Simon Zimmerman, Ohio contibutor
Never disregard the undercard divisions! While there are good matchups in Ohio this weekend at Grove City and Ross, perhaps the most competitive showdown this weekend will be at the Alliance Royal Aviation Show Choir Competition. Tucked in a town mainly known for college football about halfway between Canton and Youngstown, this Small Mixed competition will see several top groups in that division from around the region competing.
Small Mixed Division
Garfield Heights "Music Express"
Euclid "Varsity Chorale"
Van Buren "The Association"
Musselman "Kaleidoscope"
Ignore the divisional labels - all of the groups at this competition would be considered Small Mixed at larger competitions. Perhaps the favorite in this division going in is Euclid, who started their season with a fourth-place finish at North Royalton before turning around and earning their first Grand Championship honor ever at Walsh Jesuit; they then followed it up with another at Sissonville, West Virginia. They are certainly Ohio’s hottest Small Mixed group this season, and they are perhaps in contention to win it all at Alliance. They’ll be facing competition in their prelim division from fellow Ohio group Garfield Heights. Music Express has been behind Euclid at other competitions - they failed to make finals at North Royalton and were in third at Walsh Jesuit - but they are a solid group.
The wildcard in this division is Musselman, coming all the way from the West Virginia panhandle. Kaleidoscope made their season debut last weekend at Clover Hill in Virginia, where they placed fourth in finals but managed to take Best Choreography. Musselman is known for effortful show design, and seeing as they managed to take a choreography award from some of Virginia’s better Large Mixed groups, the sky's the limit for them visually at Alliance. Also in this division is Van Buren, from northwestern Ohio; they haven’t been seen since North Royalton, where they didn’t make finals.
Middle Mixed Division
Licking Valley "Vocal Impact"
Ada "Varsity Singers"
River Valley "Music Company"
Buckeye Valley "Visions"
Again, disregard the divisional titles here; all of these groups would be in Small Mixed at larger competitions. The only school not from a valley of some kind is Ada, who have had a fairly solid season so far. Varsity Singers was third overall at Batesville and second in their division at Marion Harding behind Kenton. Last weekend, they were again second divisionally at Kenton, behind Buckeye Valley, who are perhaps the favorite to win this division at Alliance. Visions had a rocky start to their season, not making finals at North Royalton, but they turned it around to win their division and make finals at Kenton, where they placed fifth overall. They’ll be looking to replicate that success by winning this division and making finals again this weekend.
The other groups in this division are River Valley, who were behind Ada and Kenton at Marion Harding but did place on the podium in Small Mixed at Olentangy this past weekend, and Licking Valley, who have not competed since Ada in November, where they failed to make finals.
Large Mixed Division
Scranton "First Edition"
Kenton "Top Twenty"
Nitro "Showcats"
One final disclaimer - disregard the division titles, as these groups are all Small Mixed groups (though they tend to do quite well in that division). The only Ohio group in this division is Kenton, fresh off of hosting their inaugural competition last weekend. Top Twenty has made finals at both of their competitions so far this season - they were fourth at Ada in November and sixth at Marion Harding, where they beat River Valley and Ada in prelims before falling behind West Virginia Medium Mixed powerhouse Winfield (as well as several Large Mixed groups) in finals. Kenton will be looking for a top finish at this competition, but it won’t be easy.
The two out of state groups in this division come from wildly different show choir scenes. Nitro comes from the West Virginia scene, where they have seen some success this year. They placed second in Small Mixed finals at Winfield before placing 2nd overall at Sissonville, where they won Best Choreography in a caption split with Euclid. Last weekend, they were fourth overall at Capital, though they were the top performing Medium Mixed group at that competition. They’ll be seeing Euclid again at this competition, and their main goal will likely be to even out that score by beating them. The other out of state group at Alliance is Scranton, the defending champions of this competition and the only active show choir program from Pennsylvania. Scranton mostly competes in the New England show choir scene, where they have seen great success this season; they swept Small Mixed at Shepherd Hill to start the season, then picked up another win (albeit a caption splitter) in Small Mixed at Tantasqua. Obviously, their goal will be to win this competition outright again; given the caliber of groups here, it won’t be easy.
Finals
Alliance has taken five finalists every year since the pandemic; this year will likely be no exception. The three groups in the Large Mixed division are all likely to make finals - Scranton has won their division at every competition this season, while Nitro and Kenton are perennially good in Small Mixed. The question then becomes what groups from Middle and Small Mixed will make finals. Obviously, Euclid has done very well this season, and so they are likely to perform well enough to make finals. That leaves one slot, which could go to Musselman (who are good this year) or the winner of Middle Mixed. It will likely be a very close decision between the last group in finals and the first group out.
Though this author normally refrains from offering predictions, he feels that this competition lends itself well to predictions, and so here are personal thoughts on how the divisions will play out:
Small Mixed
1 - Euclid "Varsity Chorale"
2 - Musselman "Kaleidoscope"
3 - Garfield Heights "Music Express"
4 - Van Buren "The Association"
Middle Mixed
1 - Buckeye Valley "Visions"
2 - Ada "Varsity Singers"
3 - River Valley "Music Company"
4 - Licking Valley "Vocal Impact"
Large Mixed
1 - Scranton "First Edition"
2 - Nitro "Showcats"
3 - Kenton "Top Twenty"
Finals
1 - Scranton "First Edition" (Vocals/Visuals)
2 - Nitro "Showcats"
3 - Euclid "Varsity Chorale"
4 - Kenton "Top Twenty"
5 - Musselman "Kaleidoscope"
No matter what happens, this year is another one that will add to Alliance's rich legacy of spotlighting some of Ohio's best smaller programs.
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