All Finals performances where in fact amazing! Each group brought something new to the table. Findlay graced "Classic Show Choir" beautifully and really gave a rich performance. Solon brought it hard and turned the entire audience into a full blown rock show, did I also mention their choreography has upgraded immensely? Just fantastic! Twinsburg was stunning as usual and really brought a unique show choir experience with their "outside the box" themes. You can say Fairfield's show was truly....out of this world! (sorry had to) and also brought it really hard during finals. Let's just remember not to criticize other groups but to celebrate how amazing they are!
Glad to see Findlay take the title and I'm not from Findlay. Their show was tasteful with excellent choreography. They didn't need an assault on the senses to win.
I say thank you to to the Medina crew for being extremely proficient and helpful this weekend. From helping to unload, to guidance throughout the day, to working with us on our load at the end of the night. Thank you all, you were wonderful!
In reference to the LiveStream. I thought it was very well done. Sure, some of the elements got lost, but that is to be expected. They do not get to have a full production meeting with each group to make sure they capture every little piece of the performance. I am very grateful that they supply in a live stream. I'm a video for myself and I do know the struggles with a production like this. The multi camera views are very much appreciated.
As someone who has produced many show choir live streams myself, I know firsthand that you will never be able to please everyone. I've had choreographers say they just want a wide shot the entire time so they can see the "big picture" at any given moment. Personally, I love seeing emotion on performers faces and that connection is what I feel really draws a viewer in. Finding the "perfect" balance between tight closeups and wide shots is a challenge, and the pacing of those editing choices takes a lot of skill. There are several live streams being produced in-house by student teams now - which is absolutely fantastic - and we can't expect them to all look like seasoned TV productions. Heck, even on big budget network shows I often find myself critiquing certain editing decisions sometimes. But that's the nature of LIVE. Like you said, things are happening on the fly and the video team has no idea when a soloist is going to pop up out of nowhere or a ripple is going to begin. It's easy to critique, and I don't want to pile on the person who just wanted to see what they wanted to see, but I will echo Jeff and say remember that the majority of these streams are free, they take a lot of manpower and planning, and frankly are creative endeavors themselves at the end of the day. I watched a bunch of this particular stream online and thought it was fantastic. Thank you to those allowing us to be there from home - especially in a world where show choir videos on the whole are disappearing. It is so appreciated.
Shoutout to the Medina team for hosting their 10th anniversary Midwest Showcase! I made it over for several daytime afternoon performances and had a great time. The Medina PAC is truly an outstanding performance venue and the Medina volunteer team was excellent and the comp ran pretty close to on time all day! I saw all 6 finalists choirs in the daytime along with a few others and it was a high-caliber competition to say the least. Genuinely enjoyed all the shows I saw.
I enjoyed their performance. I have a soft spot for their ballad and closer songs. I thought it was a really cute and well composed show from songs, set, to dancing. I was glad I caught them and happy to hear they made finals.
Can someone tell the camera man that Findlay's closer is a tap number? It is all about the feet we missed the whole tap number because the camera was always above their feet.
Medina Midwest Showcase 2019
