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GC: Linn-Mar "10th Street Edition" (BV, BC)
1RU: Homewood "The Network"
2RU: Findlay "First Edition" (BB)
3RU: Hastings "Riverside Company"
4RU: Oak Mountain "Singers"
5RU: Mt. Zion "Swingsations"
Again - there are so many tossups here and I really don't think more than half of these will turn out to be correct but I wish the very best of luck to every group attending! I must provide the disclaimer that I have not seen the majority of these groups in person this year, and so I'm going off of videos from their shows and the way that they've placed this season.
GC: Oak Mountain "The Muses" (BV, BC)
1RU: Mt. Zion "Les Femmes"
2RU: North Central "Descants" (BB)
3RU: Homewood "Nexus"
4RU: Olentangy "She-Notes"
5RU: Enterprise "Esprit"
6RU: El Paso-Gridley "Hi-Fidelity"
Women's division:
GC- Oak Mountain "The Muses" (Vocals, Choreography)
1st ru- Mt. Zion "Les Femmes"
2nd ru- North Central "Descants"/Olentangy "She-Notes"
Mixed division:
GC- Linn-Mar "10th Street Edition" (Vocals, Choreography)
1st ru- Findlay "First Edition" (Band)
2nd ru- Homewood "The Network"
3rd ru- North Central "Counterpoints"
4th ru- Mt. Zion "Swingsations"
5th ru- Hastings "Riverside Company"
I could see the top 3 in finals switching around and the bottom 3 in finals switching around. I also wouldn't be surprised if The Network got best vocals.. their sound is amazing this year. Still can't get over how competitive this event is this year (and every year!) and can't wait to see what happens.
Good luck to all groups competing at nationals! This is so stacked and honestly I think it could go a completely different way than my predictions, but here's my friendly no-hate to anyone predictions!
GC: 10th Street Edition (Linn Mar)
1RU: The Network (Homewood)
2RU: First Edition (Findlay)
3RU: Riverside Company (Hastings)
4RU: Counterpoints (North Central)
5RU: Swingsations (Mt. Zion)
I am trying to understand why Homewood is rated so high here? They have competed against basically the same two or three groups at most of the competitions they were at. Does not seem like they have a ton of diversity when it comes to their competition. How will they stack up against a vastly stronger class of competitors?
If you click on the Predictions button above, you'll see that Homewood is currently predicted to finish 4th at this contest. That includes 202 community predictions thus far so it's a pretty solid congregation of differing viewpoints. I'm not sure if that's considered rated high in your opinion, but for what it's worth Homewood is predicted lowest out of the "undefeated" groups attending this contest.
I guess my point is would they have the record they do if they competed against a more diverse group of competitors. It seemed like everyone was going off of record here and not the show itself. I looking forward to seeing their show next week in person .
It's a fair point and not exclusive to Homewood. Most choirs stay within their local circuit until their "national" competition or big out-of-state trip. Not all local circuits are created equal. There's a reason choirs like Burroughs, Burbank, Franklin Central, and North Central don't usually have extensive win streaks like other choirs boast. Some of the biggest groups in the South don't go head-to-head in a season despite being in the same circuit. The Southern circuit is also rather small, but spread out. The state of Iowa alone has more competitions than the entire Southern circuit. Capturing the rigor or difficulty of your competition schedule is nuanced and imperfect, which is why any "ranking system" you ever see out there is completely bogus (in my opinion ). Competitions like SCN are so fascinating, because you finally see how groups stack up that don't normally get compared in the regular season.
Well said and make complete sense. Yes it appears as though Iowa has a ton of competitions, the state I am from has very few which means heading out of state at least twice each comp season. My kids compete and this is my second year of watching/attending competitions, truly trying to grasp as much knowledge as I can on how groups are critiqued etc... I am blown away at talent we see at every competition! Really looking forward to next week.
I was hoping to get to go to this again with Avery this year, but I cannot make it work financially. Gonna just post some predictions instead.
This obviously a tough one.
GC: Findlay (BV)(BB). I think Findlay will prove to be too much this year. They pulled a shocker in prelims against Los AL last year and I think they are even better this year. Their vocals are immense and they perform with an insane amount of class.
1RU: Linn Mar (BC). I’ve been watching Iowa results all year and I thought about predicting a Linn Mar sweep here. Frankly it pains me to put this show out of first - it’s my favorite show of the year by a long shot in terms of design, choreo, and overall effect.
2RU: Homewood “The Network”. This show rules. If I had to pick a dark horse group to win here, it would be Homewood. Best vocal group in the south this year in my opinion.
3RU: Mt Zion “Swingsations”. I have a super tough time imagining a world where Mt Zion doesn’t make finals. They dance so well. I’m not 100% confident where they will finish overall, but I feel pretty confident putting them in finals here.
4RU: Hastings “Riverside Company”. This is a very neat look for them. I like their show design a lot, but at the end of the day I think their vocal strength will land them a spot in finals here. Admittedly, I haven’t had a great recording of this group yet, so this is more of a gut feeling pick.
5RU: North Central “Counterpoints”. This group is pretty underrated this year I think. They’ve competed in the toughest circuit in the country and walked away with a caption and a GC. They also tend to do well here.
Just want to clarify that someone has to miss finals here and honestly, it’s impossible to pick. This is an unbelievable competition as a spectator and if you have the ability to go, go. Wish the best of luck to all the groups!
Show Choir Nationals 2023
but I wish the very best of luck to every group attending! I must provide the disclaimer that I have not seen the majority of these groups in person this year, and so I'm going off of videos from their shows and the way that they've placed this season.
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Capturing the rigor or difficulty of your competition schedule is nuanced and imperfect, which is why any "ranking system" you ever see out there is completely bogus (in my opinion 