To Ashley, Cameron, and all the show choir camp people, and the group at Perkins (the kids started their ballad in the wrong key, the director has the tuning fork, but they started before he could give it to them... but glad you liked it, and i had never heard them sing it without the band, it was cool to hear....) it was awesome seeing you all and hopefully we will run into eachother again soon!
It was great seeing you too Kevin! We are very excited to see Bemidji at Totino this year. I loved the whole Jail theme this year, Very cool! Good luck with your up coming competitions!
TOTINO! SOO SOO SOO SOO SOO proud of you guys, after talking to many of you, as well as the directors throuhgout the last week, you really stepped it up, and kept positive attitudes. Instead of getting down on yourselves for not making finals last weekend at Viterbo, you took an opportunity to prove to others, and more importantly yourselves that you are a FANTASTIC show choir, and will always be one of best show choirs around! I know having April's choreo has been a challenge for you guys, and as I told you when I critiqued your show in Dec., she is very proud of you guys, as am I!
thanks sooooo much kevin!!! we loved seeing you there!! and when we saw your guys' bemidji bus at the same place we stopped for lunch me and one of the other girls freaked out!! we were sooo happy.... it was good to know that another Minnesota group was there with us.... especially yours
i absolutely loved your guys' show and those chair things that turn into jail bars for busted... i think that's that it was... well they were just absolutely amazing!!! your show was soooo much fun to watch and you guys are just sooo nice... can't wait to see you guys again!
Urbandale and Kennedy, thank you for what you both did today. You rose up and gave incredible shows that I couldn't possibly have been more proud of. The other finalists were incredibly tough and talented, and gave wonderful performances. To be recognized in this field is something you should all store as a great memory. To City High, your growth this week was great, as was your effort. Thanks for your hard work and improvement. Linn-Mar, thanks for being great hosts and giving such a mature and artistic show. God Bless, Damon
thank you for everything damon! we never could have pulled off the show we put on stage last night if it wasn't for your dedication, patience, and believing in us. you are amazing!
QUOTE(tanzentanzentanzen @ Jan 18 2009, 04:20 PM) 446947
I just wanted to add as a final note that the people from Bemidji are really really nice!
I was watching the shows on a tv outside their room and a few of them came up to me and randomly started talking. It made it all more enjoyable
QUOTE(VitalityBabe09 @ Jan 18 2009, 01:05 PM) 446883
BEMIDJI PEOPLE ARE AWESOME! I was sitting by myself during finals and a few of them sat down by me and were really nice and talked to me!
So are Protege kids! You guys are cool too
This competition was so amazing! All the groups did such a fantastic job, and I loved every single second of being there! Thanks to everyone for making this such a great experience!
I just wanted to add as a final note that the people from Bemidji are really really nice!
I was watching the shows on a tv outside their room and a few of them came up to me and randomly started talking. It made it all more enjoyable
Urbandale and Kennedy, thank you for what you both did today. You rose up and gave incredible shows that I couldn't possibly have been more proud of. The other finalists were incredibly tough and talented, and gave wonderful performances. To be recognized in this field is something you should all store as a great memory. To City High, your growth this week was great, as was your effort. Thanks for your hard work and improvement. Linn-Mar, thanks for being great hosts and giving such a mature and artistic show. God Bless, Damon
DAMON! thanks so much for working us really hard last week. All of us at City High really appreciated it and we are glad to have you as our choreographer! You were a great critique to have and it was awesome to get so many pointers for our next performace from someone who knows our show
THANKS AGAIN!
Urbandale and Kennedy, thank you for what you both did today. You rose up and gave incredible shows that I couldn't possibly have been more proud of. The other finalists were incredibly tough and talented, and gave wonderful performances. To be recognized in this field is something you should all store as a great memory. To City High, your growth this week was great, as was your effort. Thanks for your hard work and improvement. Linn-Mar, thanks for being great hosts and giving such a mature and artistic show. God Bless, Damon
Damon -
Thanks for all the hard work you have put in to us! Especially when we weren't working nearly as hard for you. Everything you did for us has paid off so much and last night was incredible! Thanks for everything!!!
WOW! What an amazing 2 days of show choir! Sat was so much fun, and Bemidji was so excited and honored to be apart of such a great line-up of show choirs. Of course, as a director, you dont get to see as many groups as you would like, and I was soooo excited to see Totino live, until they started getting behind on time, and I had to leave the aud.
I just want to say to Ankeny, you are a very consitent and professional show choir. Great job, especially with the transition with a new director, that can be hard for groups to rise above that, and you have, so kudos to you and the new director!!! Also, NOLAN! I am so proud of you, you did great on your solo, and you are the most outstanding performer in that group!
TOTINO! SOO SOO SOO SOO SOO proud of you guys, after talking to many of you, as well as the directors throuhgout the last week, you really stepped it up, and kept positive attitudes. Instead of getting down on yourselves for not making finals last weekend at Viterbo, you took an opportunity to prove to others, and more importantly yourselves that you are a FANTASTIC show choir, and will always be one of best show choirs around! I know having April's choreo has been a challenge for you guys, and as I told you when I critiqued your show in Dec., she is very proud of you guys, as am I!
Bemidji! You all know how much I truly love every single one of you, and as so proud of how well you did on Sat. You did the best you could have done, and there is nothing else i could have asked from you! I am excited to get back in rehearsals and bring our show up to the next levels. For all of you "newbies" to VM (with is over half of you) you have stepped into some very big shoes and while it took you a little while to get it, I think having your first competition and seeing so many amazing groups on Sat made you "get it." I was so proud to see all of you kids supporting other groups, and clapping for groups as they walked by our homeroom, or on their way to their warm-ups. I am sooooo proud to be your director and choreography cleaner!
Linn Mar: TOP NOTCH HOSTING! Our hosts we had were sooooooo informative and on top of everything. To top it off, you were all so supportive and so nice! I wish I could have seen your show, I heard it was very good! Bob and June thanks for all the hard work you both put into this, as well as all the Linn Mar parents and staff. I do wish the venue was bigger in order to accomodate more students to watch the groups live, its just not the same in the video feed aud. room. I think having other show choirs watching and suporting show choirs is the best part of competitions! Again, thanks for everything, it was a great day!
To Ashley, Cameron, and all the show choir camp people, and the group at Perkins (the kids started their ballad in the wrong key, the director has the tuning fork, but they started before he could give it to them... but glad you liked it, and i had never heard them sing it without the band, it was cool to hear....) it was awesome seeing you all and hopefully we will run into eachother again soon!
Chris: It was awesome finally meeting you in person as well, thanks for the comments and updates, see you at TOTINO! Yup, its gonna happen! hahahaha
CONGRATS TO ALL THE GROUPS WHO COMPETED WHETHER IN PRELIMS OR FINALS, WE SHOULD ALL BE PROUD TO HAVE BEEN APART OF AN AMAZINGLY STACKED COMPETITION!
Urbandale- I loved the show. You guys really know how to bring it during finals all the time. Great job on that win!
Kennedy- Wow. Was not what i expected from you guys at all. Such a great show, the novelty was great. I was just blown away by the talent that you guys have and just the awesome show. I loved your ballad a lot!
Ankeny- You guys did a great job performing. I personally wasn't a fan of the show. You do what you do very very well and i can't deny that.
Totino- HOLY COW. I love you guys. That show was all out fun, and i could tell that you were having fun with it too. I loved your second number, such a great way for the show to continue. It wasn't old totino with the flashy props and huge novelty, this was so much better then that. April gave you guys some great stuff, you guys are going to be great in years to come! And those dresses from the second number were hot, loved them!
Bemidji-I Love your show. A lot. Chelsea, D., ALex and I were all talking to April a bit, and this is the best bemidji show we've seen. The day round in my opinion was a lot stronger for the closer, but over all i love the show and you guys will place very well the rest of the year! And it was great to meet you Kevin!
Johnston- You have some good vocals! I liked the show, and excited to see what keeps getting pumped out the next few years, i loved the ballad.
Jefferson- Another show I wasn't a fan of. Again, kind of like ankeny you do what you do well. Some great vocals. You guys will look really clean more at the end of your show as the year goes on.
I had a great time with seeing everyone! Good luck to everyone the rest of the season.
QUOTE(bryantsgrlno8 @ Jan 18 2009, 02:20 AM) 446802
Oh, and thank you to the wonderful students of Bemidji for serenading us at Perkins... you made dinner worthwhile
BEMIDJI PEOPLE ARE AWESOME! I was sitting by myself during finals and a few of them sat down by me and were really nice and talked to me!
So are Protege kids! You guys are cool too
This competition was so amazing! All the groups did such a fantastic job, and I loved every single second of being there! Thanks to everyone for making this such a great experience!
ok so it is 7:08 in the morning and well we got back safely about an hour ago....
i really just want to say thank you sooooo much to linn mar for such an awesome competition.... your performance space was awesome you back stage crew people were sooo nice and all the other groups did such an awesome job!i know i didn't get to see everyone's day time but i saw everyone finals performance except the one right before us.... and HOLY COW!!! that's all i have to say about that
also! HUGE HUGE HUGE THANK YOU GOES OUT TO THE TOTINO GRACE ROOM HOSTS!!!! you guys were seriously awesome and the room was sooooo cute!!! i love actually walking on an easy street :-P
k one last thing before i go to get some sleep... the whole DJ idea... for whoever thought of it.... was such a great idea... i noticed one of our directors fans in the corner dancing to one of the songs.... well actually all of company of singers did.... but he looked like he was really enjoying it.... and we did too....
Firstly, great seeing all my friends from here again....Steph it was so nice to see you after three years! (see you in 2012). Adam, I will see you about 3 more times this season! Haha.
Jefferson: Great band. Nice opener, pleased to see an atypical show for you guys. The tap was clean, I watched feet the entire time, great work. Ballad was nice, but I thought there were some odd phrasing choices. But that's the beauty of music, everyone can interpret things as they wish!
Xavier: Should have been in finals. Sang very well! I am not going to lie. I hated Let It Be last week. Loved it today! Good dancing, clean it up a bit and you'll be great this season.
Johnston: You guys are going to be one of the best groups in the area in the next couple years if you keep singing like you do. Beautiful vocals. I think Stephen Todd was a great choice for you, keep him! The other choreographers did a good job, but your group executes Stephen's stuff really well!
Ankeny: Wow, you guys can sing. Best vocals of the day by far! You are the cleanest group I've ever seen live (and I don't see too many big name groups in a year...but I will this year!). I felt the show was too safe and cookie cutter. High energy opener, Ballad, Guys / Girls, Together, Tap. That seems to be a trend for you. Like one of your alums said to me though, it works. But when you sing you as good as you do and dance as well as you do, explore a little bit! I would love to see that.
Totino: I don't know what happened last weekend. But you guys were incredible. Your costuming is always great, and definitely no exception this year. I am not the biggest fan of Break My Stride, but I really believe (I didn't see Kennedy at night) that you are the only group that improved drastically from day to night! Break My Stride grew on me at night, and you guys are a great April group, I think you had her best choreography out of all the April groups I saw today.
Bemidji: Your opener is fantastic. Best opener of the day, I think. I could use more substance in your vocals, but you balance well, and dance the heck out of your show. Theme sounded corny at first, but after seeing it, it was just plain badass.
Urbandale: Holy crap band. I don't think I heard a flaw! Energy out of the roof. I didn't care too much for the opener, but you executed it well. The closer was very very high energy. I thought you were the group with the best overall package, dance well, sing well...great job!
Kennedy: Great show. I thought this was a little outside the box for you this year, thanks for exploring a bit!! The ballad was pretty, and the show seemed a bit more edgy? I don't think that's the right word, but I think you get it. You guys have fantastic technique, you know how to sing and sing healthy! (Thank God!). Great job.
Congrats to all! It was really fun to see this competition!!!
QUOTE(lyricguitar731 @ Jan 18 2009, 02:12 AM) 446799
why not cedar rapids kennedy?? just curious, i like to know other peoples reasonings.
When I made my initial predictions, I was putting Kennedy around the 7/8 range.. They were possible for finals, but I wasn't sure. I thought CRXavier and Waukee would have been in, though. So once they were out, I was thrown off completely.
Wow, Urbandale. If you go to a competition like LinnMar and get GC, what do you think Emmetsburg is gonna be like? I really can't wait to see your show.
I had the order of finals nailed, though I think on any night most of the groups in finals could have taken the cake.
Congratulations to Urbandale - always ready and knocking people's socks off. Also, a HUGE congrats to Totino! From what I understand you improved by leaps and bounds since the unfortunate Viterbo incident and I thought you were absolutely fabulous. Kennedy - nice job as usual. Jefferson was much improved from recent years and on the whole I was pleasantly surprised. Ankeny... I like your new style. It's more genuine and your singing was beautiful. Congratulations on being successful even in the event of a director transition. Johnston - I didn't see you during the day but I thoroughly enjoyed your show at night.
Oh, and thank you to the wonderful students of Bemidji for serenading us at Perkins... you made dinner worthwhile
Urbandale and Kennedy, thank you for what you both did today. You rose up and gave incredible shows that I couldn't possibly have been more proud of. The other finalists were incredibly tough and talented, and gave wonderful performances. To be recognized in this field is something you should all store as a great memory. To City High, your growth this week was great, as was your effort. Thanks for your hard work and improvement. Linn-Mar, thanks for being great hosts and giving such a mature and artistic show. God Bless, Damon
QUOTE(CABethanprice @ Jan 17 2009, 06:14 PM) 446680
The only real shock here, to me anyway, is CR Jefferson. Otherwise I had all the other groups going into finals, except maybe not CR Kennedy, and replacing those two with Waukee and CR Xavier. Can anyone that is there tell us whats going on? I actually heard from a couple people that Jefferson's show wasn't very clean and their vocals were lacking. Anyone?
why not cedar rapids kennedy?? just curious, i like to know other peoples reasonings.
Urbandale and Kennedy, thank you for what you both did today. You rose up and gave incredible shows that I couldn't possibly have been more proud of. The other finalists were incredibly tough and talented, and gave wonderful performances. To be recognized in this field is something you should all store as a great memory. To City High, your growth this week was great, as was your effort. Thanks for your hard work and improvement. Linn-Mar, thanks for being great hosts and giving such a mature and artistic show. God Bless, Damon
Linn-Mar Supernova 2009
I was sitting by myself during finals and a few of them sat down by me and were really nice and talked to me! 
I really can't wait to see your show. 