Just wanted to clarify that there was an issue in the scoring of the HS Single Gender division. Singers Xtreme an Class Act tied in rankings, so we break a tie by raw scores. Class Act scored higher in raw scoring so they placed third in this division. We apologize for the confusion, but I wanted to take a moment to clarify.
Mark- off topic, but is there an archive of the livestream? Me and my choir really want to watch our performance and with the ban on recording, we don’t have any way as of now. Thanks!
Holy crap, what a day. First off, there were a ton of captions but they're all posted but if folks would like to add in any soloist names just let us know and we'd be happy to do so.
Second, there were SO many good performances today! I was genuinely entertained throughout the day. I didn't catch every show, but here are some thoughts on ones I did. *Long post alert*
Olentangy "Keynotes" - maybe my favorite show of the day? y'all performed your Beatles butts off. Props to Shane for outstanding visual moments and maybe some of his best work I've seen. Congrats on your first place! (also I love the Dolly Parton show for "She-Notes" y'all are my sweepstakes winner for favorite school of the day )
Marysville "Swingers Unlimited" - To be honest, over the years I usually tear up watching your set because the themes have such beautifully and artfully crafted WOW moments to them (all of the vampire show, beautiful day ballad, etc.), but today I was just smiling (which is ok too!). It's a party of good music, a lovely set backdrop, and insanely good dancing. I like every number you perform and could watch it over and over again. So glad to see SU having such a fantastic season.
Lebanon "Singers" - such a joy to see the growth of your program. Your set is just bonkers and when it's all up and going and the lights - it's so captivating. Really great show. Y'all remind me of Ross a few years ago in a sense of sort of coming out of no where and having such an upward trajectory. Kudos to your 'Oh The Places You'll Go' theme.
Loveland "By Request" - I thought your show got stronger as it went on. I particularly liked the second half of your show. I love the "By Request" band and I'm genuinely surprised y'all haven't nabbed that caption yet this year. Choreo, as always, electric and very entertaining to watch. I know your results this year may be a little off or not what you're used to, but hey this is a tough year and it's amazing these shows are even half as good as they are! I especially appreciated the costuming throwback to 2016 and the last time y'all did a Michael Jackson opener. Good memories.
Ross "Legacy" - I missed parts of your show today, so my bad. From what I saw though energy was through the roof and y'all were glimmering with those jackets. Congrats on a strong showing today. I still remember the first time I saw y'all back when you did the childhood/toys and games theme when you were still "Rhythm and Motion." Nice job, "Legacy!" You're firmly placing yourself among Ohio's elite.
Grove City "Touch of Class" - I posted this probably on the last competition thread of yours, but I enjoy your theme this year and the performance. It's a blast. Similar to Loveland, your placements maybe aren't as high as last year but the growth of your program is evident. Great show, lots of fun song choices, just tough competition here.
Marion Harding "Singers" - I truthfully don't know that I've seen many of your recent years shows, but your show this year was a great throwback to one that *I do* remember. That 2015 show was one of the best I've seen y'all have, so it makes sense to bring back some of those numbers. A lot of choirs are doing 'greatest hits' type of shows and it brings back quite the memories. "Xtreme" also had an amazing, full sound for a choir of 16 (?) boys. Dang.
Kenton "Top Twenty" - As a fellow WBL member, it's been great to see your choir GROW in size and be doing so well. I think y'all had some rough patches in your performance today which isn't representative of the strides you've made. That ballad was so beautifully sung. Y'all are on the right track.
Fairfield "Choraliers" - Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping. Your opener is mesmerizing. I thought it sounded really great tonight and I still love the choreo y'all have this year. It just translates so well. One thing I always appreciate about your group is the partner choreo (like in the 2nd number). It's so incredibly effective and intricate, creating the best pictures. But oh me oh my, that ballad was the star tonight! Congrats on pulling off your new-look Crystal Classic in these challenging times. I'm looking forward to coming back to Crystal at some point!
Before I list my predictions let’s do a breakdown, shall we?
Marysville Swingers Unlimited is off to a great start to this year’s season as they placed second in their first competition, beaten out only Findlay First Edition, who is spectacular. This past weekend they swept Lebanon’s competition, beating Loveland By Request by an astounding 33.5 points (or by 46 pts in True Scoring, a system I created that makes scoring easily comparable by basing it off of 1000 possible points). There are some talented groups here, but I expect them to easily sweep captions and earn Grand Champion.
Peoria Soundwave is an up-and-coming group that has been competitive in Tier I this year, despite only being a 5-year-old program that started off with 10 members. This year is undoubtedly their best show ever and yet still has lots of room to grow and improve. They were behind Loveland last weekend by only 2 pts, which could certainly be easy to make up in just one week of practice. They did place second behind Ross Legacy last week, which directly refutes the eye test so I expect a different panel of judges to recognize that and place them ahead of Ross at this competition.
Loveland By Request has been one of the top show choirs in the nation for a long time, but the year of COVID did not pass them by and that is exemplified by a 14-minute show. They’re certainly not as good as years past, although they’re definitely still a force to be reckoned with. I expect them to follow up on last week’s competition with another 3rd place finish.
Olentangy Keynotes is off to a good start to the season with a 1st place tier III finish and a second-place finish at a virtual competition. Some great choreo and vocal moments early in the show are overshadowed by a pitchy and consonant-lost ballad. They’ve had a few weeks to improve this and we will see if they took advantage of their rehearsal time since their last in-person competition two weeks ago.
Ross Legacy has steadily improved this year, earning second place in their first competition and grand champion at South Dearborn this past weekend. Their only loss this year is to Olentangy but I don’t expect them to do it again. Ross will want revenge and they have some momentum after last weekend’s win. I expect these two teams to be close but I lean Ross.
Touch of Class is a sturdy group that had a rough Saturday last week. They started out with a strong person and earned 2nd, being beaten only by the host Fairfield Choraliers, but followed that up with a 5th place overall finish. I think they improve their placement this week, but not all the way back up to second.
Now, here are my predictions:
GC: Marysville Swingers Unlimited (BV, BC, BB)
1RU: Peoria Soundwave
2RU: Loveland By Request
3RU: Grove City Touch of Class
4RU: Ross Legacy
5RU: Olentangy Keynotes
I appreciate your enthusiasm. However, when you post those they won't be accurate. The judges are scoring based on division. This means that the scores wouldn't necessarily be accurate if combined with other divisions. In addition, you have different judges judging different divisions. Sorry!
Fairfield Crystal Classic 2021
Thank you for the advice as well ! Cant wait to see you guys preform this weekend ! !