I would LOVE to know prelims placements, as I could have seen it going a million different ways.
I wasn’t able to stick around for finals, and left just before CG and Mitchell performed in daytime, but a few thoughts:
Every single group rose to the occasion. I have to think time slot played into who ultimately made finals. All of you were excellent.
Los Al’s show was a masterpiece. I’ve seen Sound FX live a few times, but this show just oozes professionalism, and those performers were so committed to the storytelling that it hit me like a ton of bricks. The vocals were near perfect, and the dancing so clever and sharp. I’m sure it was close between you and CG.
The other two stand outs for me didn’t make finals, but I wanted to give them some praise because they weren’t really on my radar going in.
Modulations: I had never seen you live before, and you understood the assignment and the depth of the playing field. You had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. I thought it was the highest energy prelims performance, and considering your time slot, that’s saying something. Probably the most fun show of the day, IMO. Very well executed!
Resonance: I was so bummed not to see you make finals. I had watched clips of your show beforehand, and wasn’t really expecting to be as wowed by your show design as I was. You had a wall of sound, clear crisp vocals, and the choreo was so tight. You had my favorite prelims performance, and I would have had you in second of the groups I saw. If you had made finals, I might have purchased the live feed list to watch your show again. Superb.
Congrats to all participating schools for easily one of the most difficult lineups of the year, if not the most difficult.
Not to take away from the Choralaires, but I was also a little surprised by the single clef results. Granted, I was watching the stream and didn't get the full affect of the performances. And when you have this caliber of groups. scoring is always going to be close. It was really just a top notch competition in both divisions.
What an outstanding comp this was! I wish I had been able to see it live, even with the late finish.
I haven't seen it addressed in the comments (unless I missed it), but does anyone know why there was a fourth finalist added in single clef? I thought I had read that it was 4 finalists in mixed and 3 in single clef.
As much attention these comments are giving the mixed groups, perhaps we should also give ample attention to the univoice results!
What a tremendous display the Choralaires put on to defeat Center Grove and Los Alamitos! Wins against those schools’ univoice groups are hard to come by and Zionsville deserves all the respect and attention for pulling out that win. Also to mention Les Femmes snatching the best choreography award! Wow! Just wow!!!!
If I understood the scoring system correctly, the following is the full prelims placements in the mixed division:
1 - Los Alamitos "Sound FX"
2 - Center Grove "Sound System"
3 - Mitchell "Friend de Coup"
4 - Zionsville "Royalaires"
5 - Broken Arrow "Tiger Rhythm'"
6 - Lincoln Southwest "Resonance"
7 - Mt. Zion "Swingsations"
8 - El Paso Gridley "Modulations"
9 - Waubonsie Valley "Sound Check"
10 - Pleasant Hill "Hillside Singers"
11 - Twin Lakes "Sound Wave"
12 - Lincoln Southwest "Ambience"
13 - Watseka "Sensations"
14 - Pleasant Hill "Hillsound"
I'd like to say that this is, so far, the best comp I've ever been to. I wasn't performing (which is part of the fun of comps) but man, all of the show choirs I watched here were excellent. (Side note: I was here for most of mixed prelims.) Shout-out to both Sound Check and Modulations, who weren't in my opinion quite at the level of the big 7 bloodbath, but were excellent shows regardless, and Modulations in particular pulled off some well-deserved wins earlier this season. After that, it was basically a toss-up: I was blown away by the intricacy of each show and they were all intriguing to watch. Resonance was excellent in all aspects and their main soloist definitely deserved Best Soloist. Tiger Rhythm executed their choreography so well (Lexi Robson & Braxton Carr are an insanely talented duo) with their amazing costumes and theme. The Royalaires started off as old people and generally had such an entertaining show with their top-tier acting, singing, and dancing. Sound FX was insane—they’re partially the reason I went to this comp—and everything about their theme and style was mind-blowing (come on, robotic dance moves??). Swingsations had such a thorough backdrop, and their vocals in particular were fantastic. Sound System’s theme, singing, and costumes were all phenomenal: they were another group that truly blew me away. Finally, Friend de Coup with their corn theme was undoubtedly wonderful, and I called them getting Best Band. A huge congrats to them for securing the fourth spot in finals. Finally, a huge congratulations to Center Grove for claiming the grand championship. Sound System and Sound FX were truly neck and neck and I would've been happy for either group if they'd won. I watched some outstanding performances and I hope I can see these groups again in the future.
Jr. High Caption Awards: (that I remember)
Best Vocals - El Paso Gridley Dynamics
Best Choreography - Mt. Zion Sound System
Best Male Soloist from St. Michael Shine! (Tristan)
Best Female Soloist from Road Show The Dynamics (Grace)
First of all, incredible comp yesterday! Top to bottom, it would be tough to beat that lineup. Second, I did NOT envy the judges. This is just my opinion b/c ultimately show choir comps are about "winning", but yesterday perfectly embodied how much show choir has grown over the years, and why at a certain point, comparing excellent shows is an exercise in futility because they're so different. I mean, how do you compare CGs almost operatic vocals to the country twang employed by Mitchell & LSW at times? How do you compare the robotic/techno choreo of LA to the jazz/hip hop of Z'ville & MZ? I mean, sure...there are criteria and at the end of the day you pick who executed best, but to me it's like asking someone to watch Book of Mormon, A Chorus Line, Wicked, and Les Mis consecutively and tell you which show is "best". They all employ high level singing and visuals to support the story they're telling, but the stories are just so different. To me, that's what comparing the top 6 or so mixed groups last night must've been like. And for fans of show choir, it's a GREAT thing as a comp like that has something for everyone.
Sound FX did absolutely amazing and they deserve the win. I watched this show in the stand and they did great. They had a great theme with the background costumes and props everything else to back it up. Dont get me wrong everyone else had it but cmon. TVs? Everyone in this competition did absolutely great but FX brought this one home. In the middle of their show i would get absolute chills. Everyone did great like i said but i think FX had this one.
It's always during heated competitions like this where people forget what this community is actually about. Sound FX has been one of the top Show Choir programs in the entire US for several years now. And this competition definitely doesn't change that. However, Center Grove has been on a HEATER this year and I would also consider them a titan of the Show Choir community. I get you have your opinion, but at the end of the day, there is zero need to diminish a winning group and all of the hard work they put into their own show just because you liked another choir better.
I hear a lot about set, costumes, theme, etc. not just from you but from others. But what about vocals? Captions indicate Center Grove outsang Los Al, which will take up a larger portion of the score sheet.
Others (not just you) complain when their group doesn't win, and end up blaming it on "Midwest judges." Or "the judges are biased in favor of story shows." There is a space where judging can be talked about. But what an impoverished perspective, to look at Center Grove and to see anything but top-tier excellence. The same for anyone who has seen a story show this year with disdain.
Los Al and Center Grove are both having a year that will be remembered above the rest. Serendipitous to have 2 excellent shows at the same competition.
Wheaton Warrenville South Choral Classic 2024
