MIXED TIER 1
GC: Franklin Central FC Singers
1RU: Fishers Electrum
2RU: Avon Accents
This has been talked about quite a bit so I’ll try and keep this short and sweet. But I definitley agree that this is going to be an incredibly close division, in fact I think a lot of these divisions are going to be very, very close. Fishers does have an incredible show put together for this season (both vocally and visually) and I think they have the potential to do super well this season, but Franklin Central is always a vocal powerhouse. Captions will most likely be split in this division, but since Franklin Central hasn’t competed yet this season I’m not 100% confident in saying how exactly they’ll be split.
MIXED TIER 2
GC: Pendleton Heights Pendletones
1RU: Roncalli Royal Rhapsody
2RU: Columbus East Center Stage
This division could go any different number of ways. All three of those groups have taken home a Grand Champion title so far this season, but South Dearborn hasn’t been too far behind so I do not want to count them out entirely. Roncalli and Pendleton Heights have a history of going back and forth between first and second place, really the only thing that decided my prediction was how these groups placed against one another at Fishers. I don’t think Roncalli nor Pendleton Heights have competed against Center Stage this year though, so anything is possible.
SINGLE GENDER
GC: Franklin Central High Voltage
1RU: Fishers Sound
2RU: Avon Attraction
This is once again going to come down between Fishers and Franklin Central for that top spot. Both of these groups have excellent shows this season, I saw the Fishers exhibition at their competition a couple weeks ago and absolutely loved it. However Franklin Central started their season on a high note winning Grand Champs at Pendleton, which is why I have them at GC for this competition.
OVERALL THOUGHTS: Wowzer. This is going to be a close one. Center Grove does not lie when they say “Best of the Midwest.” These really are some incredible groups and I have a feeling placements are going to be decided by just a couple points. Best of luck to everyone competing this weekend! I’m excited to see how it plays out
EDIT: Had to change my mixed tier 1 prediction with Avon replacing Decatur.
Any word on if there will be a livestream for this event? And if so will it be free or will there be tickets? I’m not super familiar with the middle school show choir scene, but all of these high school divisions should be really close. There are some excellent groups performing here. This will definitely be one I’m sad I don’t get to go see in person!!!
Hello show choir fans! Best of the Midwest 2021 professional livestream will be available to purchase on www.centergrovechoirs.org. We look forward to hosting you from the comfort of your own home!
Tickets are only available through participating schools and are only valid for that schools choirs. There are strict spectator limits per Covid restrictions. There will not be any general admission tickets but there will be a professional quality livestream. Tickets will be available on the choir website at www.centergrovechoirs.org.
Our competition was open to about 150 spectators of the choirs, but members of other choirs were not avaiable to watch. I have no idea what this competition’s rues wil be though.
GC: Franklin Central 'FC Singers' (BV)
1RU: Fishers 'Electrum' (BC)
2RU: Decatur 'Elite Energy'
I think this will be a super competitive division. I haven't seen Decatur or FC, but obviously they bring great shows every year. I have seen Fishers however, and I have a hard time seeing them lose many visual captions this season. They also have great vocals and I would not be shocked if they ended up winning GC at this event. Decatur is a bit of a dark horse and could always surprise.
Mixed Tier 2:
GC: Columbus East 'Center Stage' (BC)
1RU: Pendleton Heights 'Pendletones' (BV)
2RU: South Dearborn 'Opening Knight'
I probably shouldn't even predict this division because I think that all of these groups are exceedingly close. I really think that the Visual and Vocal caption will split at this event. I know that South Dearborn and Roncalli have already split these captions once this year, while both Roncalli and South Dearborn have also both lost to Pendleton Heights and Columbus East. I think that this one is a pretty big toss up and is probably the most interesting division to watch from a competitive standpoint at this comp.
Women's Division
GC: Fishers 'Sound' (BC) (BV)
1RU: Franklin Central 'High Voltage'
2RU: Pendleton Heights 'Emerald Suites'
This is another tough division to predict, I think that the top two could easily swap places. Fishers and Franklin Central will likely compete for GC here. Having seen both Sound and High Voltage, I think I slightly prefer Sound's vocals and choreo. I think this comp will be heavily dependent on judges. Pendleton is solid and did well at Fishers this last weekend with a great showing against some solid groups. This should be yet another close division.
Carmen Scoring is the scoring system platform and it's web-based. Carmen is used by a lot of competitions (ex. Center Grove, Fairfield, John Burroughs) as it's typically quick and efficient for score calculation compared to the old school approach of paper. I'm not a Carmen rep, adjudicator, or director so I don't know that I can share in depth pros/cons.
I think you may be asking more about the scoresheet, though? Like Center Grove's rules/regulations for how they calculate results? Carmen has scoresheets that contests can select from and has all sorts of scoring options including using raw scores to determine placements or borda count, consensus ordinal ranks, or condorcet - they have a breakdown how each of these work here. So Center Grove basically can customize however they want and you can see an example of what Carmen says Center Grove uses for scoring categories, sections, and point allocation by clicking here. *It's worth noting that many competitions for 2021 are using scaled down score sheets given the circumstances, but I think this provides the general idea of what you're asking. The full detail for Best of the Midwest 2021 is surely outlined in the director's packets.
That's very helpful Jeff. Thank you! I keep score results for my choir to track progress so I was just wondering how scores were formatted so I know how to log them into my spreadsheet. Thanks for your help!
I’m ancient. I remember competing here my 3 years (06,07,08) I said Ancient LOL & they had their own very unique score sheet. It wasn’t an Issma sheet and there were prelims. & finals.
A lot of great local groups attending! Can’t wait for the livestream.
Here are my predictions. I think it’s a tossup between Fishers and FC in both of their divisions (especially Single-Gender). They both have strong, entertaining shows and FC has come through year after year. This is definitely a tough competition that I can’t wait to watch. Good luck to everybody competing!
Mixed Tier I-
GC: FC Singers (BV)
1RU: Fishers Electrum (BC)
2RU: Decatur Elite Energy
Single-Gender-
GC: Fishers Sound (BV/BC)
1RU: FC High Voltage
2RU: Lawrence Bella Bravada
Mixed Tier 2-
GC: Columbus Center Stage (BV/BC)
1RU: Pendleton Pendletones
2RU: Roncalli Royal Rhapsody
