Patrick and I were lucky enough to have a short conversation with the Waconia directors and y’all were so humble and a pleasure to chat with.
Yes. Love.
This is a tad late, but I’m still in awe from the amazing experience and gorgeous shows this past weekend. HOA did a great job for their first time in Cincy - and what an awesome city it is! I was fortunate enough to see all but 4 performances (sorry Andover, Norwell, FC, and Edgewood girls), but I did see 19/23 performances!
Hands down, Waconia and Fairfield were my favorites of the day - they made me feel A LOT of things. With that being said, though, the talent and variety was unbelievably entertaining. Piqua had one of my favorite Piqua shows in recent history, it was awesome seeing a Northeast show choir for the first time, Edgewood’s We Are The Night opener was everything, the vocals from Franklin Central were next level - it was clear they owned that caption, and then American Leadership Academy had an insane set/props with STUNNING soloists and an out of this world finals performance. The afternoon winner, Fairfield girls, were also stunning - Shatter Me is such a great song! But for my two favorite shows:
Waconia - THANK YOU for coming to Ohio. The gorgeous costumes, layered choreography, dynamic vocals, and heartfelt show design were absolute perfection. As an audience member, I was SO connected and moved by the performance. The energy and opening dance break had me LIVING. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see Waconia take any of the Best Choreography, Best Show Design, or Best Band captions. In between shows Patrick and I were lucky enough to have a short conversation with the Waconia directors and y’all were so humble and a pleasure to chat with. The HAIR. Holy moly the big hair and hairography was out of this world! I also want to give a shoutout to the girl who inadvertently got punched by the guys’s choreography when getting in position for the closer - the stage was obviously tight, but your smile and how you played it off was so genuine and elegant. I just adored the genius show design and fresh visual elements. Please come back soon!
Fairfield - I CRIED. A LOT. And still am! It’s no secret that Fairfield is consistently one of my favorite show choirs and this year’s “The Radio” story might be my favorite of all time and I’ve liked every show since 2007. With “The Radio,” I was stunned right at the beginning with Atom Bomb and the crisp choreo and band. The costumes, the opening scene with the older woman, and the overall set was really cool. The love story was SO relatable and organic. The character who played the solider as well as the girl in love with him - they were so perfect for those roles! I already started tearing up before the ballad, but WOW the combination of the ballad songs made for such an emotional and powerful musical moment. I could feel the fear, heartbreak, and love. I teared up again when the men “returned” from war and the main guy character was noticeably missing, but then the ending of that number was pure joy. For me, though, the closer is EVERYTHING. Make You Lose Control is my new favorite song and it is pure perfection and is the staple of this show design. It’s such a sweet song and the way the kids perform it is inspiring. BUT OBVIOUSLY THE ENDING. I can’t even it was full on waterworks with the jaw-dropping ending scene with the guy and girl and then also the old woman/old man joining them… literally iconic. All of these words can’t even do this show justice and it’s probably my disconnected thoughts, but to Jeff Clark and the Choraliers - absolute geniuses. This show design is amazing, seamless, and SO well executed from the song choices, to the set, to the characters, to the costuming. It’s the best show design in my book. Can’t WAIT to see it/cry again at Crystal Classic. </fangirling>
I’m looking forward to see HOA continue to grow. Kevin was a fun host, Chad was laser-focused, and the judges seemed to have a lot of fun! I think, as a spectator, the results all seem very reasonable. But at this point of where I am, I don’t care so much about results - I just care about how the shows make me feel and I appreciated pieces of every show this past weekend. Congrats to all attending groups and to HOA for wrapping up their first full year with multiple events.
ALA, way to bring it in finals!!! Super proud of you, your hard work, and the blessing you are to me and all who get to see you perform. AWESOME job moving up in finals in a BRUTAL line-up!! God bless, Damon
Finals
GC: Franklin Central (BV)
1RU: Fairfield (BC)
2RU: ALA
3RU: Waconia
4RU: Edgewood
All Day Captions
Best Band: Fairfield
Best Show Design: Fairfield girls
Best Crew: Fairfield
Best Costumes: ALA
Best Male Soloist: Piqua (Collier)
Best Female Soloist: ALA
Mixed
5RU: Piqua
6RU: Andover
Single-Gender
GC: Fairfield
1RU: Norwell
2RU: Franklin Central
3RU: Edgewood
4RU: Laf Jeff
5RU: Andover boys
6RU: Andover girls
Top afternoon group is Fairfield Pure Elegance. They will perform in exhibition as a showcase performance at the END of finals due to Fairfield Choraliers being the first group up in Finals. Congrats PE!
All of the shows here today literally wowed me in so many ways!
So blessed to have seen ALA, Waconia, Franklin, and Edgewood live! Fairfield always stepping it up looks like it's going to be an interesting race for the top.
Glad to see the schedule posted! Earlier when I was looking on choir websites searching for the schedule, I came across Andover's itinerary for their trip from Massachusetts to Ohio. I found it so incredibly interesting that there was a stop on Thursday in Barberton, OH (which is so close to where I am - drats!) to perform for the Barberton High School student body. It seems really random - I'm curious whether there's a connection between folks at Andover and folks at Barberton - especially since Barberton doesn't have a competitive show choir. Nonetheless, it seemed like a really cool show choir community moment.
10:00am Piqua, OH THE COMPANY
10:30am Waconia, MN POWER COMPANY
11:00am Andover, MA FROM START TO FINISH
11:30am Ellettsville, IN MUSIC WAREHOUSE
12:00pm Indianapolis, IN FC SINGERS
12:30pm Spanish Fork, UT EVOLUTION
1:00pm Fairfield, OH CHORALIERS
1:30-2:00pm LUNCH
1:55pm ANNOUNCEMENT OF FINALISTS
2:00pm Andover, MA NOTHIN' BUT TREBLE
2:30pm Norwell, IN KNIGHT STARS
3:00pm Indianapolis, IN HIGH VOLTAGE
3:30pm Ellettsville, IN SOPHISTICATED LADIES
4:00pm Andover, MA BACK TO BASS-ICS
4:30pm Fairfield, OH PURE ELEGANCE
5:00pm Lafayette, IN EXPRESSIONS
5:30pm Ellettsville, IN NEW EDITION
6:00pm Norwell, IN KNIGHT MOVES
6:30pm HOST PERFORMANCE - Lafayette Jefferson FIRST EDITION
7:00pm ANNOUNCEMENT OF DAY ROUND WINNER
10:00am Piqua, OH THE COMPANY
10:30am Waconia, MN POWER COMPANY
11:00am Andover, MA FROM START TO FINISH
11:30am Ellettsville, IN MUSIC WAREHOUSE
12:00pm Indianapolis, IN FC SINGERS
12:30pm Spanish Fork, UT EVOLUTION
1:00pm Fairfield, OH CHORALIERS
1:30-2:00pm LUNCH
1:55pm ANNOUNCEMENT OF FINALISTS
2:00pm Andover, MA NOTHIN' BUT TREBLE
2:30pm Norwell, IN KNIGHT STARS
3:00pm Indianapolis, IN HIGH VOLTAGE
3:30pm Ellettsville, IN SOPHISTICATED LADIES
4:00pm Andover, MA BACK TO BASS-ICS
4:30pm Fairfield, OH PURE ELEGANCE
5:00pm Lafayette, IN EXPRESSIONS
5:30pm Ellettsville, IN NEW EDITION
6:00pm Norwell, IN KNIGHT MOVES
6:30pm HOST PERFORMANCE - Lafayette Jefferson FIRST EDITION
7:00pm ANNOUNCEMENT OF DAY ROUND WINNER
Heart of America Cincinnati 2016
With that being said, though, the talent and variety was unbelievably entertaining. Piqua had one of my favorite Piqua shows in recent history, it was awesome seeing a Northeast show choir for the first time, Edgewood’s We Are The Night opener was everything, the vocals from Franklin Central were next level - it was clear they owned that caption, and then American Leadership Academy had an insane set/props with STUNNING soloists and an out of this world finals performance. The afternoon winner, Fairfield girls, were also stunning - Shatter Me is such a great song! But for my two favorite shows:
