Students performing tomorrow - if you are interested in being interviewed for the live stream tomorrow, please stop by the main stage Live Stream desk tomorrow between 10:00AM and 11:30AM, and we will let you know how you can participate. We would love to do a showcase of all of the different show choir jackets/spiritwear, so come on down and represent your school!
Predictions:
GC: Center Grove “Sound System” (BV)(BC)
1st RU: Zionsville “Royalaires”
2nd RU: Brea Olinda “Masquerade”
3rd RU: Fairfield “Choraliers”
4th RU: Carroll “Minstrel Magic”
5th RU: Keller Central “Voices of Central”
Brea Olinda sings very well this year and have a beautiful choral sound. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them finish lower or higher than what I have here. This comp could finish in a lot of different ways since I think that Fairfield could definitely have a shot at this along with the top 3 I have listed this year.
Almost undoubtedly, the 2 Nashville competitions will be producing a National Champion this year. Too bad Clinton is not competing, although another unbeaten year should keep them at # 1. And you can't dismiss the ultimate showdown between the California power groups.
I am thrilled to formally announce that showchoir.com will be teaming up with Heart of America once again to produce the live stream for this event. We have been working around the clock getting ready to bring this to the world, and I am confident it will be our best stream yet. The lineup is fantastic, and the venue... well, if you've ever been to this place, you know it's about the coolest spot for a show choir competition ever. Sadly, Adam and Alex had scheduling conflicts this year, but we're bringing along two new hosts that I think are going to be a mountain of fun. Jill Kobilka has an impressive resumé of show choir history as a director, a choreographer, and a judge, and it doesn't hurt that she's about the nicest person I've ever met! And you may know Bradley Davis from his Southern Show Choir podcast; this guy has such wonderful insight to bring as both a former show choir member and from a fan's perspective and I know he will offer a fresh take on all of the groups performing. We are so excited to be working with them both!
I can't imagine how crazy this competition is going to be, but if you can't be there in person, now you can catch it live from anywhere in the country. It's a fully produced, top-notch broadcast that will provide a full day's worth of entertainment to the comfort of your own home. Virtual ticket presales are now officially open at showchoir.com/live - we hope to see you there!
It's the same as in the past - it just takes a mammoth amount of gear, crew, and support to put on a show like this; it's not just a camera on a tripod in the back of a gym, but essentially a complete television show that we set up and aspire to rival something you'd see on network TV. We just don't have the manpower or the finances to try to duplicate that in a whole separate venue. Just for reference, I can't ship the gear to Nashville as there is too much of it and it is fragile, so each time I drive it myself - from Los Angeles to Tennessee and back - just to make this happen. Believe me that I wish we could do even more, but I think it's pretty remarkable what we can make happen at a one-day high school performing arts event.
Fortunately, Heart of America does feature a second stage finals round at their event and that will be covered in the broadcast. I know it is not every group from that stage, but we do the very best we can!
Obviously that's up to each individual, but I can say that Heart of America wouldn't be able to do it without the ticket price; it's a substantial effort to produce. Personally, I think it's super reasonable for a full day of entertainment... it's roughly the price of a movie ticket (or less, depending on where you live), and we really do pull out all of the stops. If you weren't able to see either of the previous HoA streams that showchoir.com has put together, there's a pretty cool clip of Adam and Alex from Nashville in 2017 still viewable here.
Instead of staring at an empty stage in-between groups, we pack the stream with analysis, interviews, behind-the-scenes stuff, and a whole lot more. And all of that is in addition to the actual coverage of the choirs themselves (I wish we had that to share, but we aren't allowed to record them due to copyright restrictions)! We try to make it a communal experience - there's a live chat, we take tweets from the audience, and engage in a celebration of show choir together. We're even aware of some groups that host watching parties together, which I think is so cool. There are definitely free streams out there, and this is just another option - but we work very hard at it and I hope everyone comes away feeling it is worth the price of a ticket.
I meant more in the vein of the sound and picture quality. For example, some streams this weekend couldn’t handle the huge sound of a group like Center Grove, would this be a step above that?
Häakon, THANK YOU for doing this!! It's a fantastic service, and does nothing but make an already brilliant day of show choir competition even better!! I'll be judging that day elsewhere, but I'd have no problem at all ponying up the $13......heck, I'd even pay $13.50!!! The interviews that are traditionally done between groups, and the analysis, is fun, informative, and gives people some great glimpses behind-the-scenes. I know that we will have Thirst Project/Show Choirs For Thirst Road Warriors there, and they will LOVE the day. Again, thank you for your continuing and incredible commitment to this art form we all love so dearly!
Heart of America Nashville 2020
