10 years from now those who attended this competition will still remember Buffalo Grove's ballad. It ranks with the best of all time. It may be the best of all time.
I think the adding of the like and dislike option greatly reduced the number of posts.
Or the popularity of Twitter has more folks tweeting about show choir and just viewing the results on SCC.
Remember when topics like these were able to reach something like 80 pages? It's sad that no one really posts anything anymore. I saw that sometime last night it rose to about 200 users but still not many posts.
I think the adding of the like and dislike option greatly reduced the number of posts.
For me personally, everything during the day worked out just how I thought it would after seeing everyone in day round. For Solon and Mt. Zion, they both had wonderful shows, but for some reason, they didn't JUMP off the stage like I was hoping they would. After seeing day round, I had it:
Buffalo Grove
Waubonsie
Burbank
Mitchell
Papillion
Omaha
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Zion
Solon
Auburn
Decatur
Prospect
Milton
Neenah
Eldorado
Buffalo Grove was absolutely amazing to me during day round. I was captivated by their whole show and I was certain they would be a strong contender to win.
Waubonsie was good during day round, but I was disappointed that I wasn't blown away like I thought I would be. I felt the show during the day was just simply a show to please the judges and the score sheet.
Burbank had a show like one I have never seen before. As an audience member, It was the most fun show I had ever seen and would gladly watch it over and over again for the comedy and entertainment in it. I knew after seeing it that the Burbank show would not appeal to the judges quite as much as Waubonsie's show would.
Mitchell had an interesting show idea and sang really well. I am also always a fan of Stephen Todd choreography and they perform his choreography excellently.
Papillion had one of the best traditional shows I have seen lately. I loved their song choices and thought the show was performed very nicely and that they would get into finals from how solidly their show was put together.
Omaha wow'ed me with their vocals and energy. I saw them at Viterbo earlier this year and they have improved so much. The vocals were beautiful so I can see how they purely sang their way into finals.
Back to Solon: Very interesting show idea and I DID like it. One of the only problems with the show that I can see is that I found my eyes keep getting pulled towards the televisions rather than watching the choir. In my opinion, the tv's took away from the show more than it added. Loved the ballad and LOVED the closer. A very well put together SHOW. But like I said before, it didn't jump off the stage as a whole like I was hoping.
Mt. Zion: I don't know if it was just me, but after seeing the show, it felt like Mt. Zion just performed a safe show and didn't feel much need to really push themselves before finals. I could see so much potential in the show to be amazing. I especially loved the awkward pause! But much like Solon, nothing happened to make it stand out as amazing, which was what was needed to make finals at this competition.
Auburn: Congratz to you all! There were a lot of really cool moments in your show. I thought the light cubes added a lot and the few things you did with the blue sheets for water added really cool effects. Soloist (Moses) was awesome. Really well put together show and got into finals from all of the cool effects that were added. Nice Job!
Decatur: Quick shout out to the little guy on the Jackon 5 solo. Made the crowd go nuts! Keep going young man!
Now for finals I had it:
Waubonsie
Burbank
Mitchell
Omaha
Buffalo Grove
Auburn
Waubonsie: There was the show I was looking for! So much energy and well danced choreography really jumped off the stage and wow'ed me. The vocals were probably the best I've heard this year throughout the entire show. Well deserved win!
Burbank: I was even more entertained than the 1st show. Stepped up the energy and vocal quality which made the battle for 1st much closer! Definitely a winner of the night if the audience was voting.
Mitchell: The show to me felt like it didn't improve much from the day round. Still a solid show and I had them just where I thought they would be. Nice job!
Omaha: Stepped up the energy and vocals and really brought home the 2nd half of the show! Great job and great improvements throughout the year!
Buffalo Grove: Honestly, I was a bit disappointed with the finals performance. After day round, I seriously thought you had a great chance to beat Waubonsie and Burbank, but the show during finals wasn't as solid. The choreography and vocals just weren't as tight and together. Energy was still pretty good. Ballad had a well deserved standing ovation. Soloist was amazing and everyone in the audience went wild for the whole ballad. I believe that if the show had improved overall from the day round, that Buffalo Grove would have went home with a 1st or 2nd place.
Auburn: Great show. I don't think the vocals were quite as high of quality as a whole than they were during the day but holy crap the energy got kicked up. The last dance break of the show was one of the best I have seen. I love your show and keep doing what you do!
Just so everyone knows, these are just my compiled opinions throughout the entire day from sitting up in the bleachers so the side of the judges. This competition will definitely end up being the most competitive of the year and I was so happy to be able to attend. I know some groups went home unhappy, but I want everyone to know that every show impacted the audience in a positive way and I was honored to be able to see everyone's show. Thank you all so much for coming to this competition and competing. Hopefully it will be as competitive next year. It is such a blessing to get so many great choirs at one competition. Every show I saw yesterday was normally quite deserving of a finals spot at a normal competition. This competition will go down in history in my mind as one of my favorites to watch ever!
I am new to showchoir.com, but not new to show choir. I was at yesterday's event and sat up top for the majority of the contest. Here are some of my thoughts.
The entire day was so impressive. The level of competition at this contest was unlike anything I have ever seen, and at times I had to remind myself that I was watching high school students on that stage. Bravo to EVERY director, student singers and dancers, tech crew members, band members, stage dads, and show choir moms for bringing such beautiful artistry to the stage.
I can understand where some of the few confused statements are coming from, so I thought maybe having some insight from someone who was in the gym all day could clear some things up. But the professionals who were hired as judges all have diverse backgrounds, and ultimately it is their job to "judge" each group based on their knowledge and preference. You couldn't have paid me enough to be put in their position yesterday.
Solon is a very impressive group. Their band is unreal, and their commitment to excellence is very evident. However, in their prelims, they had placed their number line about 3-4 feet off center which altered the integrity of their choreography and staging. The male soloist was smart enough to move the mics to mark the riser seams, which the boys fixed immediately, but it seemed like the girls weren't in the loop. I have a feeling that was a large part of why they didn't make finals-there was just no margin for error at a contest of this magnitude. But what a beautiful show.
As far as Waubonsie vs Burbank--if you were in the gym for finals, for me, there was no question who the winner was given that the score sheets are usually 60-70% vocal. Waubonsie's vocals in finals were electrifying. They were incredibly musical, and their variation in tone color was unmatched by any show choir I have ever seen. The quality music education they are receiving is clearly evident from the start of their show to the finish. They really went back to basics by just performing a high quality, high energy, beautifully nuanced show with zero props, and one costume change. Sometimes we forget that the choir should always come first in show choir, and Waubonsie is a perfect example of just that.
That being said, Burbank was very, very entertaining. Their soloists were unreal, and the custom story songs were brilliant. It was very well-executed from top to bottom, and they had the crowd in the palm of their hand from the beginning to the end of their show. I think people were a little taken aback in their opener during pre-lims because it sounded like they were talking about themselves when they were singing about being the "undisputed show choir champions of the world," but after seeing the whole show, we realize that wasn't the message of the show. The tech crew feature had me in stitches, and there were some beautiful musical moments as well. The whole team should be very proud of that show. It was creative genius.
In closing, this was one intense day of show choir. This was a national caliber contest, and it was a joy to watch all of these kids share their passion of performing with the audience. If anyone is disappointed in this generation of students, they need to come to a show choir contest to be reminded of the amazing things in which kids are capable. Their dedication to excellence was astounding, and their passion for their art was palpable. Bravo to all involved in yesterday's event.
I am new to showchoir.com, but not new to show choir. I was at yesterday's event and sat up top for the majority of the contest. Here are some of my thoughts.
The entire day was so impressive. The level of competition at this contest was unlike anything I have ever seen, and at times I had to remind myself that I was watching high school students on that stage. Bravo to EVERY director, student singers and dancers, tech crew members, band members, stage dads, and show choir moms for bringing such beautiful artistry to the stage.
I can understand where some of the few confused statements are coming from, so I thought maybe having some insight from someone who was in the gym all day could clear some things up. But the professionals who were hired as judges all have diverse backgrounds, and ultimately it is their job to "judge" each group based on their knowledge and preference. You couldn't have paid me enough to be put in their position yesterday.
Solon is a very impressive group. Their band is unreal, and their commitment to excellence is very evident. However, in their prelims, they had placed their number line about 3-4 feet off center which altered the integrity of their choreography and staging. The male soloist was smart enough to move the mics to mark the riser seams, which the boys fixed immediately, but it seemed like the girls weren't in the loop. I have a feeling that was a large part of why they didn't make finals-there was just no margin for error at a contest of this magnitude. But what a beautiful show.
As far as Waubonsie vs Burbank--if you were in the gym for finals, for me, there was no question who the winner was given that the score sheets are usually 60-70% vocal. Waubonsie's vocals in finals were electrifying. They were incredibly musical, and their variation in tone color was unmatched by any show choir I have ever seen. The quality music education they are receiving is clearly evident from the start of their show to the finish. They really went back to basics by just performing a high quality, high energy, beautifully nuanced show with zero props, and one costume change. Sometimes we forget that the choir should always come first in show choir, and Waubonsie is a perfect example of just that.
That being said, Burbank was very, very entertaining. Their soloists were unreal, and the custom story songs were brilliant. It was very well-executed from top to bottom, and they had the crowd in the palm of their hand from the beginning to the end of their show. I think people were a little taken aback in their opener during pre-lims because it sounded like they were talking about themselves when they were singing about being the "undisputed show choir champions of the world," but after seeing the whole show, we realize that wasn't the message of the show. The tech crew feature had me in stitches, and there were some beautiful musical moments as well. The whole team should be very proud of that show. It was creative genius.
In closing, this was one intense day of show choir. This was a national caliber contest, and it was a joy to watch all of these kids share their passion of performing with the audience. If anyone is disappointed in this generation of students, they need to come to a show choir contest to be reminded of the amazing things in which kids are capable. Their dedication to excellence was astounding, and their passion for their art was palpable. Bravo to all involved in yesterday's event.
I got to see bits and pieces of finals on the feed. To me, I think Waubonsie Valley had vocals over all groups, but in all seriousness, Burbank had everyone beat in choreography by a country mile. WIth results like these, I know one word that many people are thinking but don't want to say: bias. I'm not saying there was any, but I know that there are definetally people around the nation that are thinking this.
Congrats to all groups
Here's the thing about Dwight Jordan choreo though, ITS SO FUN TO WATCH!! Burbank may have been the cleanest group there, but lots of times a Dwight Jordan group will win over by just how crazy fun it looks. Last year at Urbandale's competition Ankeny definitely had the cleanest choreography, but I didn't disagree with the fact that Wheaton won best choreography because it was sooo much fun to watch, and it looked super fun for the students to perform. That's what I think probably happened here.
Remember when topics like these were able to reach something like 80 pages? It's sad that no one really posts anything anymore. I saw that sometime last night it rose to about 200 users but still not many posts.
Here lies the problem. No one wants to say anything that can hurt their home choir. Social Media has created some issues with members of groups saying something controversial and getting in trouble with the director or parent group of the choirs. So a lot of these sites are view only. I have to say that even though I am a long gone parent I bite my lip on what I write in these forums.
I got to see bits and pieces of finals on the feed. To me, I think Waubonsie Valley had vocals over all groups, but in all seriousness, Burbank had everyone beat in choreography by a country mile. WIth results like these, I know one word that many people are thinking but don't want to say: bias. I'm not saying there was any, but I know that there are definetally people around the nation that are thinking this.
I just got off work, and the site which has the feed says "stream not found".
I really don't want to have to go through the pain and suffering of waiting for my DVDs to come in the mail before getting a chance to see some of these shows. Does anyone know if the feed is rewindable or if it has been taken down for good?
I was wondering the same thing. Didn't get to see any of the groups from yesterday.
I got to see bits and pieces of finals on the feed. To me, I think Waubonsie Valley had vocals over all groups, but in all seriousness, Burbank had everyone beat in choreography by a country mile. WIth results like these, I know one word that many people are thinking but don't want to say: bias. I'm not saying there was any, but I know that there are definetally people around the nation that are thinking this.
Congrats to all groups
You ARE saying there is bias by even bringing it up
Biggest shock by far was Solon not making finals..Still a bit baffled....
Congrats to all the groups! I really think Burbank deserved to win this one but alas I am not a judge. Great shows all around everyone! You all should be proud!
I got to see bits and pieces of finals on the feed. To me, I think Waubonsie Valley had vocals over all groups, but in all seriousness, Burbank had everyone beat in choreography by a country mile. WIth results like these, I know one word that many people are thinking but don't want to say: bias. I'm not saying there was any, but I know that there are definetally people around the nation that are thinking this.
Wheaton Warrenville South Choral Classic (Day Two) 2014
