Sure, why not predictions:
GC: Clinton (sweep)
1RU: Auburn
2RU: Oak Mountain
3RU: Briarwood
4RU: Tupelo women
5RU: Auburn women
The wild card of course being Oak Mountain, as they have not competed yet. But they have been trending well in recent years. Tupelo is always solid and places well every year across regions.
And I still LOVE Briarwood’s Mr. Roger’s theme. All the feels.
I’ll just be happy to see it all on the live stream. Patiently waiting to see Clinton.
I think Chelsea has them, now that they've gained their momentum back and that they have their full group back from illness. They took both captions over all the groups last weekend, including over Pearl River Central who's been in 2nd and made finals. Anything can happen, but I don't think anyone will be surprised to see them out on top for the division.
PRC Central Attraction beat Chelsea by 13 points in finals, but due to the judge ranking scoring method, it had them over PRC! Plus, one judge, the only qualified one to be on that judging panel, placed them last in finals!
Well, this may be true, but no one has power over scoring, judges, or how subjective this sport can be. As a staff member at Chelsea, I can say that the group was honored to be in finals with some excellent smaller groups last weekend, and we truly wish everyone success. The creative team tries our best to make sure our students are good people, while creating shows that focus on strong singing and dancing. No matter who places or wins, we at Chelsea will congratulate you all and wish you the best for your seasons. Have a great day tomorrow to all competing, and we hope our friends at Jasper have a great first year hosting.
Who knows! I'm not super familiar with Alabama groups, but I put Chelsea in my predictions because they received best vocals and choreography in prelims at Purvis last weekend. It will be a tough fight for the last few spots in finals here, best of luck to everyone competing!
GC - Clinton (Sweep)
1st RU - Auburn
2nd RU - Oak Mtn
3rd RU - Oak Mtn Women
4th RU - Auburn Women
5th RU -Briarwood
This is gonna be a really good competition! I agree with most comments in reference to Auburn. They have a stellar show this year, but we all know Attaché is gonna bring their A-game. Especially with them competing against Waubonsie, Center Grove, and Wheaton @Glenwood in March! These groups are some of the best groups in the NATION. With that being said, Auburn is attending SCN where they will also face Center Grove and Titan Fever, so their show is definitely one that will compete well at Nationals. Clinton will definitely have to bring it, any less than their best will cause a potential upset in any category. But I do believe they will sweep!
Now...for 2RU and below...it will all be very interesting. Auburn's Elan beat Petal by a substantial margin at Opelika which has never been done by them before. Being this is Oak Mtn's first competition of the season, I'm expecting great things from them starting so late. It'll be tough, but these are just predictions.
The last spot In finals will be a toss up. If Vestavia were here, I'd definitely give it to them (maybe even beating one of the girls groups). But seeing Spain Park and Briarwood have not competed against each other yet, the last spot seems it could be between those two groups and Oak Grove. Briarwood took the last spot in finals at Jackson Prep which would make for an interesting rematch as Tyler_Wilcox already stated.
It's gonna be so much fun! Good Luck to all competing!!!
After seeing Auburn this past weekend at Opelika, I do believe they could upset Clinton’s now (I think) 5 year streak. Their vocals, visuals, and overall show design are near perfect with little to fix. At the very least I can most definitely see auburn stealing a caption in show design or possibly visuals! I have to say that if I wasn’t already going to the West Jones invitational I would definitely be here to see how it all goes down.
Their choreography isn’t near difficult enough to beat Clinton in Visuals. If they can darken the sound and add in a lot of dynamics, then they could upset Clinton in Vocals. All depends on judge’s preferences and the criteria on the score sheets.
^^^^^ yaaa really It will all come down to if the judges prefer that dark and round sound of Mississippi or the bright but tall sound of Auburn. Will be a fantastic competition!
Clinton may have a five year streak with wins , but they have a 20+ year streak with winning in the south as far as this website and their website is concerned. Waubonsie Valley Highschool (In their prime) was the last group to beat them. This same type conversation came up last year in the Homewood thread, and It tends to happen every year. Auburn has a stunning show (I mean absolutely amazing) this year, but Clinton is just on another level. Choreography they will take for certain. vocals could be close, but Clinton will certainly take that as well. Auburn would have to beat them in vocals by such a large margin to compensate for how to visual scores will play out. I'm going to agree with Tyler when he says "until proven otherwise", because Clinton has been winning in the south since before many of us show choir students were even born. David Fehr has instilled such a tremendous force to be reckoned with, even show choir giants in the midwest/west (who sweep several competitions a year regularly) get nervous competing against them. I don't see them losing to another southern group until long after he decides to take his leave. (this is all my opinion though <3) the real question is... is there gonna be a live stream>?
^^^ this. Although I haven't seen any of these groups, I feel like this will be a fight for 1st ru between Auburn and Oak Mountain. If Clinton gets beaten this season, I highly doubt it will be to a Southern choir. Never say never though! There have been multiple surprises and upsets this season already.
Live feed for Saturday!