Donna Dandino (Music)
Michelle Jensen (Music)
Lydia Lee (Music)
Mark Myers (Music)
Gina Bishop (Show)
Pete Engle (Show)
Alex Hall (Show)
Erik Hall (Show)
Intermediate Women
1st- Bonita Vista "Sound Unlimited (Music & Show)
2nd- Los Alamitos "Xquisite"
3rd- Hart "Hartbreakers"
4th- Carlsbad "Encore"
5th- Glendora "Silhouettes"
6th- Walnut "Rhapsody In Blue"
Advanced Mixed Tier 2
1st- Carlsbad "Sound Express" (Music & Show)
2nd- Bonita Vista "The Music Machine"
3rd- Hart "Sound Vibrations"
4th- Glendora "Royal Stewarts"
5th- Chula Vista "Main Attraction"
Advanced Mixed Captions
Best Tech Crew, Tier 2: Carlsbad "Sound Express"
Best Tech Crew, Tier 1: Los Alamitos "Sound FX"
Best Costumes: ALA "Evolution"
Best Show Design: ALA "Evolution"
Best Choreography: Los Alamitos "Sound FX"
Best Soloist: Sophia Wackerman, Los Alamitos "Sound FX
Best Performer: Justin Min, Los Alamitos "Sound FX"
While I understand the Show Choir is still very new and sparse in California, I think the Tiers need to be restructured.
Show choir is neither "new," nor "sparse" in California. There is so much misinformation in this post it is making my head spin.
I can give you more specifics on the way choirs are divided out west when I have more time, but all you really need to know is that the tiers are based on skill level and nothing else. Think of it as "freshman/JV/varsity." It has nothing to do with school or choir size.
A resident California expert can share more, but unlike any of the other regions California has divisions mostly based on skill level - advanced (tier I/II), intermediate (tier III), and novice (tier IV). This is discussed a little bit in this recent thread: prep division.
So I think the time allotment difference is really just for efficiency purposes. A novice choir probably doesn't have an elaborate set or full production show like Los Alamitos or Bonita Vista, so they don't need 30-35 minutes allotted for the performance - it would just be dead space.
Until a few years ago, we structured the advanced groups into Tier 1/AAA and Tier 2/AA based on choir size (not school size as is common in the midwest). If a group was a large choir they were automatically AAA, a small choir would be AA. There were also size restrictions on lower groups on par with AA to prevent choirs of 80 from competing against choirs of 20 in a novice category.
It was sometimes 40 and up puts you in the AAA category, 39 and down, the AA category. Other times, it was "more than 40" puts you in the AAA category, and "40 or less" puts you in the AA category. That problem was quickly rectified but was ever present briefly, it showcases the important variations between the comps out here that can be overlooked.
Unfortunately, CA is a little bit like the Wild West in that respect, schools are regionals and can choose to structure divisions however they want. A few years ago the size rule was thrown out at most of the competitions that employed it, AAA became the de-facto "more advanced" division with some groups (formerly Bonita) choosing to move up (though none of the large choir groups moved down to AA). Now it is purely at the discretion of the director, Bonita has since moved down to Tier 2, and yet they recently competed at a competition where they lost in Tier 2, and yet the only group in Tier 1 was a group they had beaten the year before.
It's a strange scenerio, they likely would have had a win in Tier 1, but since they made the decision to compete in Tier 2 this entire year, they went up against a group that consistently performs at a higher standard (Hart) than the only group in Tier 1.
While I understand the Show Choir is still very new and sparse in California, I think the Tiers need to be restructured. I hardly see more than 2 or 3 Tiers in the midwest not counting the Single-Gender or middle school divisions. While Novice groups are expected to provide less in terms of time consumption (staging, set length, prep time, etc.) if a school has two choirs, one really should be competing in an advanced category, that excess time of AAA or AA might give the directors, staff, and students ideas on how to utilize it in future years.
Out here, placing 2nd or first runner up is sometimes viewed as "losing", well that was our own fault when we have so many divisions that sometimes we only have two or three (or one!) choir(s) in each division. If we had fewer divisions with 10+ choirs in each division, then maybe students (and directors) would start looking at those 2nd and 3rd place trophies as valuable as a Grand Championship. Not to mention not placing 1st all the time would give you more reason to work harder rather than simply placing 1st at every comp and deciding the show was "good enough"
A resident California expert can share more, but unlike any of the other regions California has divisions mostly based on skill level - advanced (tier I/II), intermediate (tier III), and novice (tier IV). This is discussed a little bit in this recent thread: prep division.
So I think the time allotment difference is really just for efficiency purposes. A novice choir probably doesn't have an elaborate set or full production show like Los Alamitos or Bonita Vista, so they don't need 30-35 minutes allotted for the performance - it would just be dead space.
Exactly Jeff...also- by giving Novice groups 20 minutes and Intermediate groups 25 minutes, you can host more groups. For example- this competition has 32 groups just on Saturday!
It would be kind of hard to host that many groups if they each had 30 minutes on stage...
Why, at California competitions, do Tier 4 groups have only 20 minutes allotted to perform?
I am assuming tiers are divided based on school or group size. To me, it doesn't seem like that would need to affect performance length, unless it has just become standard practice.
Or maybe tiers are divided based on something else entirely. Can someone more knowledgeable than me give me more info?
A resident California expert can share more, but unlike any of the other regions California has divisions mostly based on skill level - advanced (tier I/II), intermediate (tier III), and novice (tier IV). This is discussed a little bit in this recent thread: prep division.
So I think the time allotment difference is really just for efficiency purposes. A novice choir probably doesn't have an elaborate set or full production show like Los Alamitos or Bonita Vista, so they don't need 30-35 minutes allotted for the performance - it would just be dead space.
Why, at California competitions, do Tier 4 groups have only 20 minutes allotted to perform?
I am assuming tiers are divided based on school or group size. To me, it doesn't seem like that would need to affect performance length, unless it has just become standard practice.
Or maybe tiers are divided based on something else entirely. Can someone more knowledgeable than me give me more info?
Anyone know if there are still tickets available at the door for Mixed Tiers I and II?
Burbank is saying totally sold out. Tickets went very fast (not surprising because of all the amazing groups performing). They did say "seat hoppers" were available at the door...