Very different order than I think lots of us expected. I would love to compare score sheets and listen to the judges tapes of veterans like Jeff Clark and see his order versus some of the other judges, such as the one who works with Piqua, as I bet their opinions and tastes for a show varied quite significantly. Either way though, as someone who has seen all the large groups that were in prelims at some point this year, this weekend must've been a great overlap of Ohio power, and everyone here deserved to do well!
On the other hand, I think Teays should really examine their definition of a "Festival" division. Especially considering Sheridan's Spotlight competition is the same weekend and has clearer divisions outlined. The bolded part in Kevin's post above, to me, shows the absurdity of the Festival definition here. If it's obvious a choir doesn't meet 3 of the 4 qualifications for a division, then they probably shouldn't be competing in it. I mean, I get that you only have to meet one of the qualifications to compete Festival, but when you have well over 28 singers/dancers, a long history of tradition, and a school that isn't considered small per this competition, then you shouldn't be Festival. At that point, you have more in common with Championship and should be competing at a more appropriate level even if that means you don't make finals. Perhaps the third bullet point about freshman/sophomores should be clarified to represent prep groups or something as the optics of recent schedule changes seem to show folks taking advantage of that qualification simply for an easier path to finals. I don't think that meets the spirit of a Festival division.
I think that the classifications should probably be examined and I imagine will be. Mr. Farrell strives for clarity and transparency at the Classic and will do what he can to ensure that.
I know the original intent of that was to allow prep groups to qualify for the division and it was worded primarily Freshmen and Sophomores to allow that. Things like this are usually left vague intentionally to compensate for unique situations, but I think in this case it's not following the original intent.
I have a feeling this may not have been an issue had the Championship division had more finalists spots! Nevertheless, I think both classes are going to be pretty competitive!
Cannot wait till tomorrow, as long as I have been following Show Choir I have never been to Teays . This is a bucket list competition for me and man am I pumped up for it. The judges panel is great the choir list at every level is fantastic and I cannot wait to grab my seat and watch almost every group. Going to be a Great Day !!!!!!!!!
Overall, there's some really good dialogue here with lots of valid viewpoints. To be honest, I think I agree with every single post.
On one end, all the attending directors knew the division classifications and type of competition Teays runs when they signed up for it. If folks don't care for it, then they could have attended somewhere else. Teays is pretty straight-forward with their competition, which is more than I can say for some other competitions, so you can't really blame them for that.
I can't say for certain how they qualify, but they only need to meet one of the following requirements.
1.) 28 or fewer members
2.) Three years or less of competitive experience
3.) Group members are primarily freshmen or sophomores
4.) School has student body population of 400 or fewer
We obviously know 1, 2 and 4 don't apply. My assumption is they meet number 3.
On the other hand, I think Teays should really examine their definition of a "Festival" division. Especially considering Sheridan's Spotlight competition is the same weekend and has clearer divisions outlined. The bolded part in Kevin's post above, to me, shows the absurdity of the Festival definition here. If it's obvious a choir doesn't meet 3 of the 4 qualifications for a division, then they probably shouldn't be competing in it. I mean, I get that you only have to meet one of the qualifications to compete Festival, but when you have well over 28 singers/dancers, a long history of tradition, and a school that isn't considered small per this competition, then you shouldn't be Festival. At that point, you have more in common with Championship and should be competing at a more appropriate level even if that means you don't make finals. Perhaps the third bullet point about freshman/sophomores should be clarified to represent prep groups or something as the optics of recent schedule changes seem to show folks taking advantage of that qualification simply for an easier path to finals. I don't think that meets the spirit of a Festival division.
It does seem odd that BL would be in Festival Div.
I can't say for certain how they qualify, but they only need to meet one of the following requirements.
1.) 28 or fewer members
2.) Three years or less of competitive experience
3.) Group members are primarily freshmen or sophomores
4.) School has student body population of 400 or fewer
We obviously know 1, 2 and 4 don't apply. My assumption is they meet number 3.
Nitro has moved to the Festival Division as well.
I've checked over the rules multiple times, and there's nothing prohibiting any of these groups from switching. While it's definitely frustrating (I mean, who wouldn't switch with only three finals spots), they aren't doing anything wrong.
Whenever you change how finals work in the Midwest, there's bound to be confusion. While I'm not a huge fan of the way Teays has been doing finals the past couple years, I completely understand why. Not a lot of Tier II or "Class B" groups get to finals as often as they'd like, and this is a wonderful way of giving the Tier II groups a greater shot at taking home some hardware.
