Please don't ever change that! I've seen way too many groups over the years get caught up in all the extras while losing what made them special to begin with. LESS IS MORE!
Less is More...
Talk to Totino about that one ;)
The dancing nuns, Uncle Sams on stilts, a married couple, and yes, the kitchen sink made that song the greatest show choir novelty of all time.
whoa I just realized.... Davenport Central is stalking Cedar Rapids Washington this year!!!! lol They will see each other at EVERY competition they go to this year!
I think I'll dispell a few misconceptions about sets and props and costume changes.
First, they are not toys of the devil. They do not somehow lure judges into forgetting about things like vocal and dance abilities. A fancy dress will not make up for shouty singing, and extra risers won't make your band play in tune. Using a prop doesn't magically make choreography clean. I think judges deserve a bit more credit than to assume a little razzle dazzle makes them throw their integrity out the window.
They don't have to cost a lot of money.
Also, as shocking as this may be, groups that use these things do not necessarily use them just so they can win show choir competitions or show off how "rich" they are.
Sometimes, groups use sets, props, and costume changes for reasons like: they can be entertaining for the audience, they create challenges for singers, instrumentalists, crew members, and choreographers, directors, and parents. They can visually transform a stage, and set different tones throughout a show.
The more things you add in your show, the more things there are to malfunction or lose. It's not just an easy ticket to a big trophy.
I'm Keenen and I'm a member of Central Singers, Inc. Thanks for all the good and bad criticism you've given us. And yes, we know we have a long way to go! As our director Mr. Reese likes to say, "that's the worst our performance we'll ever be," I really believe that and I just think we have a lot of work to do. To all you LaCrosse people, we are so grateful to have Steven in our group. He is such an amazing performer and has been a big help to our group this year. We had an awesome time at Milton. I think everyone who made into finals did a beyond wonderful job.
Congratulations goes out to Waubonsie Valley I was amazed with your show. I had so many good things to say about your show. Also, you all proved to me that you don't need big props to have an amazing show.
Big thanks to our hosts at Milton. They were very nice and fun to be around. Once again congrats to all the groups who made it to finals and I hope to see you in the future.
QUOTE(ShiningStarlet @ Jan 21 2007, 02:28 PM) 375985
we don't have any sets or props or anything, and only one costume change....
Please don't ever change that! I've seen way too many groups over the years get caught up in all the extras while losing what made them special to begin with. LESS IS MORE!
Hey I'm from Waubonsie Valley Sound Check! This is only our 2nd year in competiton and we were amazingly excited and humbled. Our competition was fierce and we were so impressed with all the finalists!!!!! We, honestly, went into the competion PRAYING that we would get to compete in finals, and to take home 2 awards was such a huge honor.... we don't have any sets or props or anything, and only one costume change, so we really felt like the underdog! i got to go onstage and accept the awards and I was up there crying tears of joy!
We had so much fun at Milton and we truly enjoyed watching all the amazing groups and seeing what is out there!
Hey everyone,
I think that all of the groups performed their hearts out yesterday, especially in finals. It was amazing to be up there, on stage, just throwing all of your energy into what you're doing and enjoying every second of it. That's what show choir is all about, really. Performing the best you can. In the end, does it really matter how we placed as long as we can say, "That was our best show yet."? Sure, we lost by 5 points. Its a small margin. But Waubonsie Valley was a talented group that was severely underestimated, and they deserve to be Grand Champions. Honestly, all of the groups deserved to be Grand Champions yesterday. Congratulations to everyone for doing such an amazing job.
And like Ana said, don't trash talk. You never know who might be listening, and you also know how much it hurts when you hear someone diss your group. There's no point in beating down a group because it won't make your group any better. Try and stay positive. That way, the whole competition will remain friendly and fun.
I can't wait to see how all of the groups continue improving! Good luck to all of you!
This was a fun competition and very interesting too! Here are just a few thoughts I had on some of the groups.
Totino-Grace- What a overall FUN show. I loved the costumes, the back drop, the band, the soloists. The Chicken number was cute, and the whole closer "Snuff the Girl" and "Raise the Roof / Rock This Town" was just great! Dancing was great, acting and facials were great, and you sang beautifully. Expect yet another great Totino year! I was up close for the first show cheering you on. But for the second show I wanted to watch in the back to get the whole feel of it!
Waubonsie Valley- Well, well, well. Some of the people I was with compared you with Mt. Zion....well, I think you sing better than them (Same sort of tone, and same type of arrangements, chord wise). The ballad was just great. Overall you were a big surprise to me, congratulations on your first Grand Championship.
Kennedy- I loved all of it, Damon has given you a really fun show this year.
Washington- You guys keep getting better, nice vocal sound, and great show!
City High- I loved the show, the novelty was great! The ballad was beautiful, and the closer was fun. The one thing I have to say is I've always enjoyed your band, the strings always played a role for me, and this year, the big orchestral band seemed unnecessary to me. The band let me down a bit, but was still decent.
Central- I loved seeing Steven perform, I've known him since his sophomore year at La Crosse Central, and he's just grown into a GREAT performer! The ballad was just great! The show was fun, and I liked the closing swing stuff, nice job!
West- I loved it all. The wedding day number was just great, it looked like a lot of fun. Way to step it up in finals, it was a lot better than day, which was still good!
I would post some scores... but I have no idea where they are.
This is all I remember:
In finals, Waubonsie has a 773, and we had a 768.
Bill Griffel had them in first (with an almost perfect score, 197 out of 200), Mike Esser had them, us, and one of the Cedar Rapids tied for first (which is nice, because he had us in 4th during the day! At least we moved up!!), and Jen Oundjian and Brett Carroll had us in first.
Not that any of that really matters, because it went by points, not rankings lol. All of the scores were pretty close between the finalist groups.
I wish there would've been a bit more positive energy in the gym- the audience was kind of dead for most of the day, and there was a lot of trash talking going on. Remember everyone, you don't know who could be listening to the things you say! Unless the people by you have shirts on identifying the group they are associated with. In that case, is it really that hard to not say nasty things about the group while you're sitting next to them?!
Oh well! It was a fun night- it was neat seeing Iowa City perform in finals, after going through that whole roller coaster of emotion. It's always fun to see groups perform when they're just excited to be up on stage. You handled the situation gracefully, and absolutely belonged in finals. You made a ton of improvements to your show in a week!
Cedar Rapids Kennedy, I have no idea why everyone spent all fall saying you weren't going to be strong this year... You were great at Linn-Mar last weekend, and even better this weekend at Milton.
Waubonsie Valley, congratulations! You definitely know how to do the Mount Zion thing well.
The past two weekends, I've felt like a junior in high school again. Last weekend, Johnston performed their closer from 2001. This week, Cedar Rapids Washington did Canned Heat- which they also did in 2001! Both songs sounded like the 2001 arrangements, and had almost identical choreography.
Thanks to our hosts at Milton, you were all helpful and incredibly nice. You kept things from getting chaotic and more confusing, and you made sure all of our kids had a ton of fun!
Female soloist was the girl from Kennedy is "Show Off"
She is good, but she needs to actually show off, do something to fit the song..
You should reccomend that Derek!
i really had fun @ the competition - truly enjoyable.
I didn't get to see a whole lotta groups but i did see wabasoni (i hope i'm somewhat close - sorry) you guys had such good vocals - seriously. the sound you guys produced was awesome!
i saw milton again (last time was at viterbo) it was so much better this time! it was a lot stronger performance. did you guys add glasses to your 2nd song? i thought it seemed a little different...
everyone was really friendly, and i had a great time!
looks like it was such a tight competition!!!!! congrats to everyone!!!
Momentum- I know you are disappointed with your finals placings, but all the groups there were AMAZING so you definitely did an awesome job! I heard some great things about your show (especially your sound!!!) but I would love to hear more specific details....
Best Band, in my opinion was scewed. Not to take it away from Parkview at all, but there were major issues with the sound all day. The trumpets stuck out.
And also, people who bring their guitarists out (I can't remeber what groups there were a few tho), they need to move a bit more, not just stand there, takes away from the energy.
Congrats, to Davenport Central for the close competition!!! I still can't believe you guys beat us by a point, and we were both within 3 points of the finals. On a brighter note we did take numero uno in best band which was really exciting for our second show.
Hope to see y'all in sauk prairie next week and good luck in future shows
Milton Choralation Invitational 2007
. next year they'll most likely go, but hey im a senior so ill be off at school!
