Johnston is very good at what they do. The best at traditional show choir I've seen by far. As someone who isn't associated with either of the top 2 schools I found Eos to be more entertaining and innovative. Could have gone either way in my opinion.
There are some prep teams that would compete very well against varsity level competition if they didn't have the stigma of prep next to their name. Johnston definitely fits that description. I wasn't surprised at all. By the way City High has a very good show this year. They were fun to watch.
Johnston Synergy (10-12 prep) has regularly made finals in multiple comps per year for a number of years. Their 9th grade prep also made finals at SE Polk in 2020 and 2022.
Honestly i think at some of the elite programs their prep teams would be very competitive against varsity level teams. Some of the Des Moines suburb schools and particularly Linn msr on the east side of the state are just on a different level than everyone else.
Here are day scores. Obviously I don't have finals. Things happen. It was so close and the competition was so good all around. I don't think anyone except the judges could accurately predict what would happen after all of the performances. I was sitting with several different unaffiliated area theatre friends all day, and they had differing opinions, and also really appreciated every group there. Great job everyone!
For 6th place, Synergy, WSD, and Momentum all had 1 tie for first place (1 6th place vote). First tiebreaker is sum of ranks. All 3 groups had 21 (6+7+8). Second tiebreaker was total points which Synergy won by 1.5 points over Momentum. WSD then received 7th over Momentum. Kinda confusing if you don't know the system. Basically, with Ordinal Consensus, when there is no consensus, it gets into the weeds of the tiebreakers.
Congrats again to everyone and best of luck for the rest of the season!
Daytime Awards Prep/Treble: Best Vocals: Synergy Best Choreography: Synergy Best Band: Synergy Best Soloist: Zoe Wolrab - Focal Point Best Soloist: Luke Fongkhamdeng - Synergy
Prep: 5th: Kennedy Protege 4th: Prairie Focal Point 3rd: Washington Celebration 2nd: Waukee Northwest Aurora 1st: Johnston Synergy
Treble: 3: Jefferson Ovation 2: Iowa City Charisma 1: Johnston Bella Voce
Varsity: Best Soloist: Prairie Sawyer Speltz Best Soloist: Johnston Jay Rixner Best Band: 4th Ave Jazz Company
