By Anne Marie Wright, Heartland contributor
The southwest Missouri show choir season certainly started off with a bang at the Mt. Vernon Mid-Winter Classic this past weekend. Saturday brought 18 groups on stage, and seven of those groups went on to take the top spots in finals. Throughout the day, there was all kinds of shows based on movies, video games, love stories, mythology, and everything in between.
Starting off with the smaller school divisions, these groups brought some serious energy and competition to the stage. Green Ridge Harmony, who brought a show set in a dystopian reality, and Cabool Rhythm in Blue, with their War on Roses show, competed bright and early on Saturday morning, but still managed to give impressive performances. Green Ridge, a choir brand new to the Mt. Vernon stage, took first place in the division.
Seneca Starstruck gave a chilling performance with their wedding-turned-murder show, and El Dorado Springs Sound Collage entertained the audience with their Super Mario show. East Newton Patriot Singers brought an air of mystery to the stage with a Scooby-Doo themed show, including all of the main characters, a central villain, and even special appearances by The Hex Girls, who appear in a multitude of the franchise’s movies and shows. This group gave a lively performance, and their character work and facials really shined through. After East Newton came Maryville Spectrum, newcomers to the competition who ended up in second place in their division. Spectrum also brought home the People’s Choice award for the day. Hollister Blue Harmony stunned the audience with their royally refined display. Hollister took first place in the 3A division at this competition last year, and they upheld their first-place title this year as well. Blue Harmony’s show followed the story of King Midas and his golden touch, and not only was the show well executed technically, it had the entire crowd ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the emotional climaxes of the set. In addition to their first-place title, they also won Best Costumes, a well-earned award. They wore costumes in regal colors of royal blue and burgundy with accents of gold, driving home the opulence and regality of the setting in which their story took place.
In the 4A division, the audience saw a blast from the past with Nevada’s first-place pinball wizard show, a little slice of history with McDonald County Rhapsody n’ Rhythm’s Don Quixote set entitled “Quixote’s Rhapsody,” which took second place, and Cassville Center Stage, who checked in at a solid third.
The womens division was a tight race, with Joplin Touch of Class coming in first place with their show, Rip Up the Recipe. TOC also won Best Ballad with their rendition of “What Baking Can Do” from Waitress, and senior Jordan LePage earned Best Soloist. Webb City Bella Voce came in second with their Marilyn Monroe show, Let Me Be Your Star, and Nevada Treble Effects in third with their diva-esque show about modeling. In the mens division, taking first place (and Best Opener with the song “Fishin’ Hole”) was Webb City DoMENance with their Gone Fishin’ show. Junior Maddox Wood also earned Best Soloist for his performance in their ballad, “I’m Gonna Miss Her.” Three of these four choirs landed places in finals: Touch of Class, Bella Voce, and for the second time in the history of the group’s existence, Webb City DoMENance.
In the 5A division, five choirs duked it out for the top division placements, and here’s how the scores shook out:
Rock Bridge City Lights was fifth with their New York-themed show. Their performance included a backdrop of the New York skyline and featured city-focused songs like “Empire State of Mind.” Hickman Harmonix, a choir new to the Mt. Vernon stage, came in fourth place, also securing a spot in finals and the Best Shoes caption. Joplin Sound Dimension snagged the third place spot and entertained audiences with their Scooby-Doo show, the third show of the day to include the iconic theme song from the television series. This show wow-ed audiences with complex staging, dynamic visuals, and stellar main characters. Sound Dimension also joined their sister choir, Touch of Class, with a spot in finals.
Second place in prelims was Marquette Center Stage, who gave an impressive presentation with their head-in-the-clouds show. Marquette put forth a polished show, one with tight choreography and solid vocals. Not only did Center Stage earn a spot in finals, but they also took home Best Closer for the day.
And in first place, joining both of their school’s other choirs in finals, was Webb City Singers with their Home Sweet Home show devoted to their hometown. Singers also took home Best Ballad in prelims for the song "Home.” Singers very clearly gave a first-place performance at this competition. Their commitment to characterization, the intricate choreography (that for the most part was executed very cleanly), and their refined vocals that filled the gymnasium all combined to make a stellar presentation (not to mention the pyrotechnics). Their show includes well known songs like Motley Crue’s “Home Sweet Home,” the NFL theme song, and Main Street USA.
The finals were a cutthroat battle between these seven groups, and there were some major shake-ups in the scoring. Webb City took an oversized share of the finals field, putting forth three out of the seven groups. Joplin had two groups in there, then Marquette and Hickman to round out to a group of seven. Webb City DoMENance came in at sixth runner-up, followed by Touch of Class, who landed at fifth runner-up. In fourth runner up, Joplin Sound Dimension stayed steady in the middle of the pack. Hickman jumped up to third runner-up after the judges declared they deserved an extra seventh spot in finals, and Marquette Center Stage held strong as the first runner-up choir both in prelims and finals. And finally, taking the Grand Champion title, Best Vocals, Best Choreography, and Best Band, were the reigning grand champs of the Mt. Vernon Mid-Winter Classic, Webb City Singers. It’s also worth noting that Webb City made school history by having all three of their choirs make finals at the same competition.
This was a crazy competition in terms of point margins in the final placements. Webb City Singers decisively came in first by a margin of 40-ish points. The margin between second place and sixth place? A mere 13 points. Very seldom do are finals scores come to this tight of a margin between that many places. Between all seven finalists, there ended up being a 100-ish point spread from 1st to 7th, which makes sense. But 13 points between 2nd and 6th place is absolutely wild. The closeness of these scores really are a testament to the talent of those five groups, scoring so close to one another.
This weekend was full of extremely impressive performances from a wide variety of choirs, both returners and newcomers to the Mt. Vernon stage. With stunning shows presented, a crazy scoring outcome, and Webb City history being made, this competition was definitely one to remember.