Man, people are going to be surprised to see Onalaska. I don't know if anyone can say anything to make them look better. They are a group that has gone from barely making finals, to being a contender for GC at every competition this year, in just half a season...I can't see them not making the top 3.
It's cool to see that so many people are excited about our competition. The line up is amazing, so I hope everyone has an awesome time! I'll be the senior hosting the Milton Rising Stars!
There is a new schedule on the Monona Grove website. It seems that Hersey has dropped out of the competition, and also that OHS Express and Parkview have traded spots in the order.
If you go to Hersey's website, it still says they are attending, but who knows how long ago that was updated.
Oh well thanks, your students and parents really are great, and I would just like to say again thanks for hosting such a good competition, and I am pumbed I have never seen Onalaska before!
You should be excited.. we got to see Onalaska perform last weekend at their invitational and they were wonderfull :>
This message previously said something about the parking situation around the school. However, I realized that it probably will not make sense to anyone who is not from Monona or Cottage Grove.
My predictions for finals (in no particular order):
CR Jefferson
Bloomington Jefferson
CR Prairie
Eau Claire
Milton
??? Neenah or Sauk Prairie?
There are a lot of groups here so they'll have to fight to get into finals - I think this will be an exciting competition. Another Eau Claire alum and I are driving down for this one, I hope they are doing fresh baked cookies again this year!
Any other alumni attending besides you two and me? Earlier in this topic I said I probably would not be there. However, I decided to come after all, assuming the weather holds up.
I saw Jeff at their preview show a few weeks ago, and i was pretty impressed. I also saw Milton at Viterbo and was equally impressed with them (Also surprised...i had never seen them live before). So i think im gonna go with...
GC: CR Jeff
1RU: Milton
2RU: CR Prairie
3RU: Bloomington Jeff
4RU: Sauk Prairie
5RU: Eau Claire
psh... why doesn't anyone tell me Bloomington Jefferson switched to Randy Sage (wow I totally wanted to say Sandy Rage) his choreo is great for the scoresheet.
I think all the hype about Jefferson is their new director. He made Ovation a prep powerhouse and they made finals at least once last year. When he was with Anamosa they were an EXCELLENT show choir. He's also worked wonders with the Washington baseball program (although that's pretty irrelevant). Lincoln SW's director is now the prep director at Jefferson, so I just see this program going back to its unstoppable level in the next few years, especially with Woodin retiring from Urbandale. I just REALLY loved Ovation's show last year, so I am expecting great things from CR Jefferson this year. That's what I "know" about Jeff that others might not. I've actually gotten to work with Dyrland (the new prep director) while he was at Southwest, and I just have to say he is really amazing, and I'm SURE he's been wanting this job for awhile.
New predictions:
GC: Cedar Rapids Jefferson
1RU: Bloomington Jefferson
2RU: Cedar Rapids Prairie
3RU: Milton
4RU: Sauk Prairie
5RU: Eau Claire
BV: CR Jefferson
BC: Bloomington Jefferson
BB: CR Jefferson
Last week definitely modified a couple of my thoughts about some of these choirs...
Everyone seems to know something about CR Jefferson that I don't, but I predict good things for Bloomington Jefferson with Randy Sage as their new choreographer.
This is basically a really good lineup, so here goes nothing.
GC: Milton
1RU: CR Jeff
2RU: Bloomington Jeff
3RU: CR Prairie
4RU: Onalaska?
5RU: Sauk?
(I can also see Hersey and EC competing for these last two spots.)
Good luck to everyone!
P.S. Our director will be there to watch people's shows, so say hi to him if he makes himself known. Haha.
GC: Cedar Rapids Jefferson "West Side Delegation"
1RU: Cedar Rapids Prairie "The Ambassadors"
2RU: Milton "Choralation"
3RU: Sauk Prairie "Executive Session"
4RU: Eau Claire "Old Abe Show Choir"
5RU: John Hersey "On Stage"
Best Vocals: Cedar Rapids Prairie "The Ambassadors"
Best Choreography: Milton "Choralation"
Best Band: Cedar Rapids Jefferson or Sauk Prairie
I'm gonna stick with my predictions, even though I feel sure I am wrong HAHAHAHA
My predictions for finals (in no particular order):
CR Jefferson
Bloomington Jefferson
CR Prairie
Eau Claire
Milton
??? Neenah or Sauk Prairie?
There are a lot of groups here so they'll have to fight to get into finals - I think this will be an exciting competition. Another Eau Claire alum and I are driving down for this one, I hope they are doing fresh baked cookies again this year!
Colby- Mayville 2nd runner-up (behind JAnesville Craig and Altoona)
Of course, many groups with a decent chance of making finals did not compete this week, including Fort Atkinson, Hersey, CR Jefferson, Bloomington Jefferson, Eau Claire Memorial, and Onalaska.