It seems as if my assumptions about Sioux City East have proven true. Their show was great! Also, WDM Valley is back on the rise! Wow! I am worried about Totino. We'll see once finals are completed.
I saw their show over the Christmas break and was VERY impressed, especially with vocals. A lot of changes have happened in the choral program at Valley that have made it possible for more people to join show choir, and the combo. Additionally, since my senior year in 08 they have bounced between several different directors which was no good. We now have a committed director that everyone seems to love which is making an obvious difference. With what I've seen/heard, look for Choralation and Ignition to indeed be on the rise!!
It seems as if my assumptions about Sioux City East have proven true. Their show was great! Also, WDM Valley is back on the rise! Wow! I am worried about Totino. We'll see once finals are completed.
Only 12 hours until The Ambassadors and Focal Point take off for Waukee! I've been waiting all week for this competition. I think I can speak for all the other Prairie show choir folks when I say we're excited to compete here for the very first time! We're excited to perform our show for everyone and get it out on a competition stage as well as get to see so many other great groups! Does anybody have any last minute predictions before tomorrow?
I think that this competition has quite a few exciting story lines.
Obviously the biggest two are going to be "Are they back?". Last year, both Totino Grace and Sioux City East had underwhelming season compared to typical expectations. I say typical expectations because both shows were still performed very well and should in no way take away from the hard work the students put into it. I don't think many people expect them to stay down for long, and this will be the first chance to see if they have really bounced back.
Another story line that interests me, and maybe I'm alone here, is how will Cedar Rapids Prairie top last season? Their show last season was one of the most exciting shows I have ever seen live. It was so clever and just beautiful in many different ways. Will they be able to match their success?
I'm also very interested to see how Iowa City West, Xavier, and Valley do. Each of these schools has had peak years where they compete for the top of 4A in Iowa. Will one, or more, of them peak up again?
Also, there is not many people on here from Southeast Polk, but I am very interested in seeing if they can match their show from last year. If you saw SEP last season, you'll know what I mean. It was the first time I can remember seeing them and thinking they looked closer to the top of 4A than they did the top of 3A. Hopefully they can continue to build on that success.
As for predictions, I honestly could see this one going pretty much any way possible. With all of the unknowns surrounding all of the choirs, it is just literally to predict.
Good luck to everyone this weekend!
Man Ethan shutcho mouf. Ain't nobody tryna read all that
I think that this competition has quite a few exciting story lines.
Obviously the biggest two are going to be "Are they back?". Last year, both Totino Grace and Sioux City East had underwhelming season compared to typical expectations. I say typical expectations because both shows were still performed very well and should in no way take away from the hard work the students put into it. I don't think many people expect them to stay down for long, and this will be the first chance to see if they have really bounced back.
Another story line that interests me, and maybe I'm alone here, is how will Cedar Rapids Prairie top last season? Their show last season was one of the most exciting shows I have ever seen live. It was so clever and just beautiful in many different ways. Will they be able to match their success?
I'm also very interested to see how Iowa City West, Xavier, and Valley do. Each of these schools has had peak years where they compete for the top of 4A in Iowa. Will one, or more, of them peak up again?
Also, there is not many people on here from Southeast Polk, but I am very interested in seeing if they can match their show from last year. If you saw SEP last season, you'll know what I mean. It was the first time I can remember seeing them and thinking they looked closer to the top of 4A than they did the top of 3A. Hopefully they can continue to build on that success.
As for predictions, I honestly could see this one going pretty much any way possible. With all of the unknowns surrounding all of the choirs, it is just literally to predict.
Yes sir! Continuing our themed show style from last year, our theme (or story if you will) this year is Dick Tracy, the comic book strip that originated from the 1930's that eventually had a movie made after it. We're doing a story loosely based off the comic strip about Tracy's crime fighting adventures against the villains of New York City and his love interest, Tess Trueheart, while still maintaining a comic book atmosphere and style to it.
The assumption I make when putting Totino-Grace third, is that Totino’s program decline is not as extreme as it’s made out to be. Many individuals of the SCC were critical of TG last year and stated that their program is on a decline. I’m going to assume there has been a decline, but it isn’t extreme so I’ll rank them high but not as high as habitual GC groups as Cedar Rapids Prairie.
Agreed, Totino-Grace is difficult to predict. I personally think it's too soon to claim that their program is in a decline, prior to the 2013 they had a really high award record. It might have simply been an off year, I guess we'll find out over the season. They're one of my favourites though, so I'm hoping they'll make a strong comeback this year.
I've been waiting all week for this competition. I think I can speak for all the other Prairie show choir folks when I say we're excited to compete here for the very first time! We're excited to perform our show for everyone and get it out on a competition stage as well as get to see so many other great groups! Does anybody have any last minute predictions before tomorrow? 
Any word on final results? Also, best male soloist?