Brandon has claimed yet another victory going into HOA Orlando. I really love the progression of their competitive drive this year. If you look closely you can see they are more successful as the season continues. I think their Choreography goes unmatched unless you're one of the titans of the south. Vocals always seem to be up for grasp, despite their formidable sound. They will face their stiffest competition yet in Orlando and I hope they are fine tuning aspects of their show in preparation. Protect the streak!
Congrats to sound surge for pulling off what I would consider to be an upset over NWR. I did not have them over NWR for finals but I am also not a judge (lol) And their show has improved over the season. I suspect a strong showing from them at Oak Grove. Since 2016 this has been one of my favorite groups and they've built a pretty massive program in such a short amount of time.
NWR had one of my favorite performances of the night. Technically speaking their choreography was really solid, and in my opinion, of the highest quality of all the groups that night in terms of difficulty and variety. Vocals were also very good, but the ballad always leaves me wanting a little bit more. (This may be my bias because several show choirs have done arrangements of that song). Nevertheless they really blew me away. Wonderful job.
Sumrall has some of the best costumes in the south no question about it. I adored this show, it was such an exciting watch. It was a tad bit rough around the edges and I was left wanting more visually, but tremendous work from this group and a really gorgeous set. The ballad is extremely well written as well!
Tier III - now this was a hoot. I will say I was a bit surprised by the results, but that tends to happen when you have 10 groups competing in one division haha. Here was the break down for small mixed (I didn't see every group in tier III so I didn't do reviews on all of them)
1st Laurel - very strong show design and vocals. The soloists are all insanely good too. Choreography lacked variety, but they definitely made up for this in excitement
2nd West Marion - Really strong vocals from this group as well. I'm not in love with the show design, but the kiddos tell the story well. minus points for the evanescence song (im totally kidding)((im not kidding)). To be honest This group actually has my number 1 spot for vocals in tier III they sound incredible. Choreography is solid at the beginning, but unravels a bit as the show progresses.
3rd Wayne County - this group has been REALLY consistent this year I was not surprised by their placement.
4th CCA - Now because of the results at West Jones, I was expecting this group to be called for 1st place at this competition. I must admit I was a bit shocked, but once again. That's what happens when you have nearly 10 groups competing in the same division.
5th Warren Central - I still haven't seen your show but I would love to. Someone please send it to me.
and so fourth
Overall this was a really good competition. I was supposed to be on vocal rest, but show choir just excites me so much I couldn't help but cheer for some of these groups. (I ended up regretting it later, but the doctor says im okay)
Next week I'll be dropping a MASSIVE podcast episode so stay tuned. Much Love <3
Would be crazy for Brandon if they could pull off a full sweep here. They have been having an extremely strong year thus far. An NWR upset would also completely shake up the landscape of this season. I suspect one or maybe even two middle mixed groups may also make their way into finals - even possible for a group like CCA to make finals here. I expect strong showings from Jasper and Sumrall. They will offer some clarity on where AL/MS groups could potentially stack up against each other in rankings for middle mixed. I also haven’t forgotten about biloxi. (a lot of spirit in that program). A few show choirs here haven’t had quite the season they wanted but should be proud nonetheless. Keep making improvements! This could be your moment. There unfortunately won’t be a podcast episode this weekend because my voice is in bad condition, but i’ll be sure to leave a review here after the competition as well as post my official rankings for the south (Top 10 in every tier). Good luck to everyone!!!
So proud of Sumrall ‘Legacy’ and ‘Traces of Blue’ for winning their respective divisions and for ‘Legacy’ making finals after a tough week at their school. So proud of them for pushing through this tough week!
Congrats to Brandon on their 4th win in a row! If they manage to win FAME Orlando in two weeks (which is very possible), this could be the first year they go undefeated. Also shoutout to Biloxi for a strong 1st runner-up showing here!
Evie, I had the same issue happen when I bought the stream and then went back to open it later. If u see the circle spinning in the middle of the screen, look down at the bottom and see if there is a little triangle "play" icon. Click that and it will start streaming again.
Petal Show Choir Invitational 2022
