By Quinn Masek, Siouxland contributor
Once in a blue moon, there is a weekend like this. South Dakota hosts seven competitions throughout the season, and two of them are this weekend: the Vermillion Rhythm In Red Invitational and O’Gorman Standing O. O’Gorman's competition was held on the same day as Aberdeen Central's last year, and Vermillion canceled their competition last year due to low attendance. Circumstances worked out for both to host this year.
VERMILLION RHYTHM IN RED INVITATIONAL
Final Predictions
Grand Champion: Sioux Falls Jefferson “Legacy” (BV/BC)
1st Runner Up: Sioux Falls Jefferson “Revelry”
2nd Runner Up: Woodbine “Visual Harmonics”
3rd Runner Up: Columbus “New World Singers”
4th Runner Up: Hinton “Soundwaves”
Vermillion is hosting a small, small school competition this year. They only take five finalists instead of six. Despite that, both Sioux Falls Jefferson groups are projected to finish on the podium. Visual Harmonics did place first in their division last weekend at Pella but missed out on finals. Columbus High School is bringing all three of their groups from Nebraska, which is a three-hour drive away. Hinton is traveling a very short distance to the competition. Other schools like Dell Rapids and Logan-Magnolia are also set to make an appearance, and could even make finals at this competition. The choirs that place third through fifth should relish their placements, as they will go to groups that don't make finals often.
SIOUX FALLS O’GORMAN STANDING O
Mens Division
Papillion-La Vista “Monarchy”
Interestingly, despite being a two-year-old competition, Monarchy is not the first mens group to compete at Standing O, since Sioux City East Entourage was here last year. Regardless, Monarchy has made finals twice this season, so they should have a good show this weekend.
Womens Division
Sioux Falls Washington “Stage Lights”
Papillion-La Vista “Heart and Soul”
Aberdeen Central “Special Request”
Sioux Falls Roosevelt “Capitol Harmony”
Stage Lights is the only one of these groups to win a division this season, and the only group of these four to make finals, so they are expected to win here. With that said, Special Request shouldn’t be underestimated as they’re also a well respected group in South Dakota.
Final Predictions
Grand Champion: Bloomington Kennedy “Rhythm In Gold” (BV)
1st Runner Up: Sioux Falls Washington “Classic Connection” (BC/BB)
2nd Runner Up: Aberdeen Central “Eagle Express”
3rd Runner Up: Sioux Falls Roosevelt “Executive Suite”
4th Runner Up: Papillion-La Vista “Free Spirit”
5th Runner Up: Harrisburg “Eclipse”
Traveling from a Minneapolis suburb, Rhythm In Gold seems like the fan favorite to take home gold at this competition. Despite that, many people don’t think it’ll be a runaway. Classic Connection is coming off a win against Pius X at Lincoln Southwest Showdown, the group's first win in Nebraska since 2017. Many expect Classic Connection to take home at least one of the main caption awards.
A few weeks back at Washington's competition, Executive Suite placed ahead of Eagle Express. However, some think Eagle Express will use this as an opportunity to bounce back and place higher than Executive Suite. Free Spirit was beat by Classic Connection at Lincoln Southwest, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to be changing. This is also the group's last competition of the season. Finally, Eclipse missed out on finals after a competitive battle at Omaha South last weekend, so there’s hope the group can come back to make finals this weekend.