Our Mitchell family has been blessed this year to have the most incredible hosts everywhere we have been. Among the finest is the WWS crew of adult and youth volunteers. Our day was joyful because everyone at every station was welcoming, helpful, knowledgeable about their task, and appreciative of all the choirs that attended and competed. Thanks to the Classics and Esprit and also to your parents!
Babylon, Ancient City is one of the main themes from what I've gathered. Their theme name is "Living life to the fullest" or something along those lines
Also, I did decide to attend this contest, sporting my gold sequins. One of my favorite contests that I’ve been to (totally worth the $400 plane ticket).
May I just say that this competition has the best hospitality of any competition in the nation. The bathrooms are incredibly clean, which does not go unnoticed. Every single volunteer and high school helper is obviously trained to perform their job at the highest level. I felt welcome like I never have before. I felt like I could sit down and have a home cooked meal with each and every one of them while telling stories of old meema and peepa. I think I may transfer my student from his high school in new york to wheaton warrenville south just so we can be more involved with this comp in the future. I asked one of the helpers where the bathroom was and they walked me to the facilities to ensure I made it there and don’t get lost. Actually, there was no chance I would’ve gotten lost because the direction signs showed me exactly where to go and we’re obviously strategically placed to maximize customer satisfaction. Everyone who set up this competition deserves a special shout out as it was the most efficient and smoothly run competition I have ever intended. I will be returning year after year to this competion that has truly changed my life.
GC: Mitchell (BV)
1RU: Wheaton North (BC)
2RU: Homewood
3RU: Glenwood (BB)
4RU: John Hersey
5RU: Waubonsie Valley
This competition (as always) can go anyway and most likely my prediction will be far off.
Mitchell - Mitchell is having them a year. Beating very solid competition every where they go, besides the 1st runner up to Millard West early in the season. They have yet to have the choreo caption taken from them, but I do believe if anywhere, this would be the comp the choreo streak would come to an end. They also have to opportunity to show how much they have improved to Mr. Gemar & Ms. Linda who saw them earlier this year at Omaha Westside (where they received 1RU).
Wheaton N - Although 1RU is a toss up, I believe Wheaton North can snag it. Wheaton North has also had a very solid year placing 2nd at every competition besides one. (received 4th behind some very strong groups at Chesterton). What convinced me that they could secure 2nd was at their recent competition they were able to snag Best Choreo from Wheaton South. Wheaton South who is undefeated and was undefeated in Choreo. So, I think they can repeat but instead of breaking Wheaton South's choreo streak this time it's Mitchell's.
Homewood - Homewood is very strong group coming out of the south having only lost once to a very strong Oak Mountain choir. Now, Homewood can easily place 1-3 at this competition with their strong vocals and April/Randy choreo, but something in my gut has them in 3rd. Maybe it's because of how hard it has been for out of state groups at this competition in recent years or how they have to go from a warmer climate to the midwest's 3rd winter Idk. But like I said Homewood is a major threat at this competition and I would not be surprised if they landed on the podium.
Glenwood - Glenwood will place top 4 here. I had the pleasure of seeing them at Kankakee earlier this year and they pull off a classic Glenwood show with great vocals, dancing, and footwork. Now, people might be hesitant after them not making finals at Cedar Rapids Kennedy but did you see that lineup? A crazy good lineup that featured some of the best in the midwest. Yes Glenwood got nudged out by a prep group, but Ankeny Centennial "Eternal Rush" is a varsity choir if I've seen one. Eternal Rush has made finals at every comp they have attended but 1 and on top of that they have beaten top notch choirs. Glenwood might not be the Titan Fever of past but they still are a fantastic choir with an amazing combo.
John Hersey - John Hersey has really come to life this season. Although they have only performed twice they have beaten some great groups such as Sullivan, Batavia, Danville, Waubonsie Valley, and Skutt Catholic. After a year of performing at majority non-competitive events, John Hersey seems to be on the rise in Illinois.
Waubonsie Valley - This is Waubonsie's first time returning to Wheaton South since 2018, and if anyone remembers that competition you know it was a less than ideal night for Waubonsie (To those curious Click Here ). Waubonsie, although it seems they have been struggling as of late, is still one of the top programs in the midwest, and you can never count a Dwight group out especially in Wheaton.
Best of luck to everyone competing! This will be a good one!
We're having a bit of a 3rd winter down South too. My grandmother called to say it was supposed to snow in Homewood on Saturday. (Of course, it's supposed to do that in Chicago too ). I think your analysis is spot on. The trickiest part of this contest is predicting where Mitchell and Homewood go. Past results suggest that Wheaton North, Glenwood, WV/John Hersey is a likely outcome, but there's no head-to-head or transitive head-to-head with the two out-of-state groups.
1 - Mitchell (BV)
2 - Homewood (BC)
3 - Wheaton North
4 - Glenwood
5 - Waubonsie Valley
6 - John Hersey
Spring break for me in Greensboro. Really wish plane tickets to Chicago weren't so obnoxiously expensive, and that's even with me driving down to Charlotte .
Did some digging into old results at this contest. Last time a group outside of Illinois won this contest was in 2012. It has never been won by a group outside of the Midwest, even with big names like Clinton, Burbank, Petal, and John Burroughs coming here. I see four groups that could win this contest. Two aren’t from Illinois.
). I think your analysis is spot on. The trickiest part of this contest is predicting where Mitchell and Homewood go. Past results suggest that Wheaton North, Glenwood, WV/John Hersey is a likely outcome, but there's no head-to-head or transitive head-to-head with the two out-of-state groups.
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