I wrote a lot on Twitter under the #HOAOrlando hashtag that I wont duplicate here. But I did want to say a few things.
Los Alamitos. Your show is so phenomenal. I honestly don't have the proper words to describe how I felt watching you. And that was just through a screen. The story is so captivating and thought-provoking. It really was a journey. Both times I watched you today, I had tears when that FREAKING AMAZING soloist came on stage with the white dress. Plus the message of the closer is just incredibly by itself. I can count on one hand how many times in my 13+ years watching show choir that I have been this moved by a show. It was such an experience. I can say this with confidence: you were the best show choir in Orlando.
Franklin Central - Your show also moved me, though in a different way than Los Alamitos. From a technical stand point, your show ticked all of the boxes for me. I am more of a "cookie cutter" show choir guy at heart usually, so the straight up technical aspects really appeal to me. And your show did not disappoint. The vocals. OH THE VOCALS. They HIT ME. Through the tv. It was a wild feeling. Plus... the sopranos on top of the choir vocals. PERFECTION. And the choreography was just so crisp and created amazing pictures. I fell in love today. Thank you.
Cedar Rapids Prairie - Iowa represent. Love the show. It's so uplifting and emotional. Plus, you mixed Dear Evan Hansen and Into the Woods in the same ballad. Love. I thought you were spectacular.
John Burroughs (Sandals as footwear for a show choir set, count me in), Center Grove (clever show design and those sopranos were amazing), and Mt. Zion (the usage of legs/feet to enhance choreography is so aesthetically pleasing) also were incredible today.
Non-finalist notes:
DeKalb brought a dinosaur on stage. If that isn't a moment everyone needed, I don't know what is.
Petal - I REALLY enjoyed your show. It was fun and so well performed. Dare I say, it was magical.
Decatur - Also really enjoyed you. You were the first group I watched, which seems like days ago. But the tradition of your program is astounding and it is so great to see you continue to perform your hearts out each year.
There really is no reason for any choir to be discouraged. You all performed beautifully. This was the best, deepest, and most overall competitive competition in a long time.
Shoutouts -
Alex and Adam - Thanks for providing commentary and keeping us entertained between groups. Y'all were awesome.
Haakon - Thank you, from everyone. Thank you. For continuing to not only support and love this community, but to expand it, make it better, and make it more accessible. You have changed the lives of thousands of people for the better and I don't even know if you know it. You are wonderful.
Also to those in the #HOAOrlando hashtag on Twitter. It was fun to interact with you all.
Overall it was a wonderful day. Definitely worth the money. And then some. And then some on top of that, too.
Until the next live feed. Ethan out.
P.S. LOS ALAMITOS SERIOUSLY WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME? I cannot stop thinking about that show. Okay bye.
Endless thank you's to HOA, Manchester for hosting, Alex and Adam for keeping us entertained all day (some fun banter really makes the set up between groups fly by!) and of course Häakon for giving us the ability to watch thousands of miles away. It takes an unexplainable amount of prep work and meticulous planning to pull of such an incredible, high definition and quality stream like the one today, and it was worth every penny and more. Not to mention while we were all snacking and laughing while enjoying every performance he was slaving over that camera for more than 16 hours. Thank you!!!
BIG shoutout to Häakon. What a wild hobby for you to support the show choir community like this... and for bringing us all along for the ride. Your vision for this event, the highest quality production show choir live stream experience ever, along with the many hours of work planning, driving across the country, set up, and working through all the technical stuff, etc. Holy smokes you're the man and we all love you dearly. Additional shout outs to Alex Hall and Adam Peters for serving as insightful Show Choir Live hosts throughout the day. Your commentary pulled all of this together for a fun and interactive experience. And to HOA for allowing this collaboration. THIS is the community I know and love. Thanks to everyone for being a part of it.
Just a shout out to those of you in the audience and all the performers today who helped us attack the global water crisis with Thirst Project. Between the 50/50 raffle (which was won by Michelle Samuelson from Los Al who decided to donate half her winnings back to us!) and an INCREDIBLE miracle minute, we were able to raise $3,067 in one day. That equates to 123 people in the nation of Swaziland that will never again know a day without clean water.....lives will be changed forever! Out humble gratitude to Chad Alexander, Bobby Picker and ALL the HOA people for running a stellar event and giving us a platform to use show choir for good on a national stage!!! Also, huge thanks to Alex and Adam from Show Choir Live, for letting me tell the livestream peeps a bit about us....I truly appreciate the visit with the two of you. Finally, I didn't see a lot of shows today, but the 5 or 6 that I saw were simply as good as it gets. I mean, truly remarkable, top-notch, couldn't be any freaking better, kind of great!! It was a day I felt blessed to be a part of this beautiful and insane animal we all call show choir. My head is humbly bowed in gratitude to everyone who gave today....God bless, Damon Brown
YALL Los Al hasn’t lost Best Choreo since FAME Nationals in 2013!! Another AMAZING performance from the Sound FX kids, and another well deserved BC trophy in their trophy case
I think overall (my opinion), Burroughs and CG improved the most from their prelims performances. Plus more judges, and I bet the scoring was very close.
You certainly aren’t the only one feeling this way. While every group that competed was incredible and had to have been very close, I was shocked when they announced the results for 2-4. But what can you do? Congrats to all the groups that competed today every single performance blew me away.
You certainly aren’t the only one feeling this way. While every group that competed was incredible and had to have been very close, I was shocked when they announced the results for 2-4. But what can you do? Congrats to all the groups that competed today every single performance blew me away.
If anyone has the judges points I would love to see them! I’m interested to see how close in points Burroughs, Center Grove, and FC Singers actually were!
Heart of America Orlando 2018
