I'm back!
And Häakon, it one of the best things about this website! :D
Anyway, now the groups in finals:
Grand Island - Ultimate Image: First of all I loved your guys' choreography! Total Stephen Todd choreo haha and you guys executed it really well! I really enjoyed the commitment to the show, because i saw many people with great facials, dancing full out, etc. The ballad was so so good. At one point there was this big wall of sound that sounded really good! The Calling Medley song was really good, and of course as it comes with most props those are things that take a lot of effort and practice to clean. Towards the end it began to lose a bit of energy, but i could see why! You guys were dancing and singing your hearts out! I LOVED the "I <3 SC Girls" shirts. They was hilarious. Oh, and the second number was too! Everyone was really into it and really acted it out! There was a guy that was in the front center at the beginning of that number that always had me and jbliakos drawn in the whole time. A great dancer, actor, and performer. Probably our performer of the day!
Ralston - RUSH: You guys know how much I love you all haha I already spoke to some of you so I won't talk for ages haha But like always one of the things I love about your show is that its very fun and entertaining. The Name Medley has a lot of cute hilarious moments . I could tell you all enjoy performing your show a lot too. I think that the changed order of the songs worked a lot better. Also I really wish I had one of those opening men's jackets. Insanely jealous of it. Can't wait to see you guys get better and better!
Millard North - Infinity: Right from the get go you guys started with strong choreography and vocals, which was a great preview of the rest of the show! haha The ballad was simply beautiful. I got multiple chills whenever you sung the "Pleaseeee don't leave me." phrase. It sounded soo pretty. The sound in the guy's portion of the beginning of Fighter was really strong and the feeling was there vocally, but i wish it had come across a bit more in the facials at the beginning of it. Really great show though guys. Oh and I really enjoyed your HUGE band! haha
Cedar Rapids Jefferson - Westside Delegation: I liked your guy's show a lot, especially the second half of it! The second song's vocals were very crisp The opening ballad formation was really cool. I also thought it was a beautiful ballad too. It really is one of those ballads that envokes a lot of emotion, and it showed on your faces. The soloist in it had a beautiful vibrato that i really enjoyed too! The trio of girls that sung the Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy had the perfect period voices for it. The guys number was really strong and had a lot of presence! and I loved special effects and the fight in the closer! Oh and the violin in it was perfect too. Congrats on the GC.
Sioux Falls - Classic Connection:I loved your show. Simply loved it all. The concept was great and it was so well made. The opening soloist was fantastic. Now I gotta let you know, this show was like a walk down memory lane filled with nostalgia, because i've song a lot of the songs that you guys had in your show. You should have seen my reactions as i heard each one begin lol Among them were On My Way, Final Storm from Secret Garden , At the Beginning, Bridge Over Troubled Water, and The Storm is Passing Over. Anywho! Enough about me and my feelings. xD The second song with was very cute and so funny. The ballad solist was terrific I loved the lift in the closer! You guys sounded fantastic through out everything and looked amazing too! I hope many many more people get to enjoy your show as much as I did.
Also, P.S. When you started singing Under the Sea, I looked over at Austin and his mouth was open in pure glee. haha You broke him. hahahaha
Elkhorn South - Blackout: I just want to say how much I realy enjoyed the theme of your show! I thought that it was well disigned and thought through. I loved the guys suits and ties. And I really loved the girls dresses . The opener had such a strong, solid, and supported sound. Mystery date was hilarious and cute. It will probably be one of my favorites this year. Ladies' Choice after that was really good and full of energy. The ballad was really nice, and the soloist gave a superb performance. There were so many performers in your group that really were giving it their all on stage. It was a wonderful show and i can't imagine how good you'll be by the end of the season!
Lastly, thank you to everyone at Gretna for the amazing competition. Thank you to the parents, students, staff, and volunteers for such a well run competion to start off the season for many people. I had a lovely day there and a lot of fun. Thank you to Gretna - Revolution for putting on a great show too. I really liked it and your ballad soloist had a great voice with a lot of power behind it.
Thank you to everyone who competed and attended, I know me and my friends had a fanatstic time and good luck to everyone on the rest of their seasons! =>
Awesome reviews guys, thanks for taking the time to post them! This is what I love about this site... I hope more people get in the habit of sharing their thoughts here. Can't wait to see some of these shows!!
Wow what a day! I was there from the first group of the day to the last one at finals. Loved it all.
Nowwwww that I'm all rested and such I'm gonna type a bit abotu the competition and a lot of groups I saw. Like jonathan said, be ready for a doozy
First of all congrats to all women's and prep groups! Saw some great talent there that makes me excited for the future for sure!
Bellevue East - Take II: Great job guys. I really liked your ballad a lot and it was well sung. I also thought that there was a lot of feeling in almost everyone's faces in it, which helps really sell the ballad.The instant change of energy from the ballad to the next number was awesome too! Also there was a guy with longer brown hair that was super into it all. I enjoy performers like that haha
Blair - Ovation: I thought the whole concept of the show was cool. The first song set it up really well with Bring Me To Life, the fog, the books, the lights going out and the strobe light. It was great! For the most part I could see how every song was carefully picked to work well with the show theme. Loved the smooth moves from the second song. Very well acted. Towards the middle of ballad, I'd just makes sure to know when words end and start because there was just a bit of inconsistance in when the cut offs where and such. Liked it all a lot though.
Elkhorn - Excell: It was such a cute show. I really liked it a lot. You had a lot of great performers! The ballad solost was sooo good! Loved the guys number! haha and the guy with the grey shirt and the cool tricks! Man, I wanted to stand up at the point for a standing ovation for that haha! I will also admit that i "tara-dah-dah"-ed with you guys lol Oh, and hurrah for happy endings! I always like seeing you guys, and you are always very friendly
Omaha North - Explosion!:I reaally liked the ballad you guys did. Its a very pretty song. The 4th song was a really cool sounding number. and I thought that the energy in the closer was great! Its a very wacky number so it really needs that huge amount of energy for it to be performed right, which i thought you guys really had!
Fort Calhoun - Phenomenon: I truly enjoyed your show a lot! It had such a classic show choir feeling to it. It was simple, but very good . Defying Gravity has some very solid, pretty, and balanced vocals. Whats more, those vocals were carried out thorugh most of the show. I could tell you guys spent a lot of time working on those and really making it a priority. So props to you guys and your director! Anything Goes was great bc the girls had the cute character voices and the guys had a very manly sound there. Me, jbliakos, and tenorisland all really liked the cool ripple effect leg thing that the girls did in the cute forth song . really liked the whole show!
I dooo belive that was all the groups aside from the ones at finals. Which, i will get to after i come back from church and suchh haha
This post is 3 pages long in microsoft word so prepare your self....ignore any spell checks because it took me long enough to write this and its getting late and I want to sleep so I dont wanna spell check it. You should get the idea though.
So considering the fact that there were so few of us from this site that were at this competition and werent competing in it I feel almost required to post my thoughts about the groups and competition.
First off to Gretna(who obviously hosted this competition). You guys put together one of my favorite competitions ive been to since my freshman year(Lincoln Southwest). The food was great and those COOKIES I honestly spent $10 on them which doesnt sound like too much but they were 2 for a $1. Which mathematically equals 20 cookies.....YUM . Again though honestly a really well run competition. Parents were awesome. I could have sworn I had performed in that auditorium last year and then I realized it was almost identical to Ralstons(I love their auditorium so that is a compliment). The kids were great from your school. I recognized a few from UNL show choir camp!!! Now onto the groups!!! yay
Im gonna list how I had it. These rankings may step on some peoples toes but it is my opinion. I take into show preference into these also.
After prelims I had it
1st-Elkhorn South
2nd-WSD
3rd-GISH
4th-Souix Falls(I loved you guys....I will say that alot in this post...prepare yourself)
5th-Millard North
6th-RUSH(I love you also)
BV-Elkhorn South
BC-WSD
BB-Souix Falls(only thing I had right....)
My finals rankings were the same but flip Souix Falls and GISH.
Obviously according to the rankings I was no where close to what it actually was....either this was just really close score wise or I should never be a judge. Hopefully the answer is the first of those two.
WSD-I have loved you guys since junior year when I saw yall at Souix City East. I know a couple people in your group and told them alot of stuff that I would say on here so this will be a short section. You guys dance EXTREMELY well which is I had you winning BC. I wasnt shocked that you got BV though. You guys had some really good vocal moments. Also respect Mr. Epperson. He is the bomb(student taught at Omaha Westside last year). I told him to tell me if you guys are mean to him so I could come to CR and have his back.
Elkhorn South-My second favorite show of the year so far. Mystery Date is my favorite song of the year so far and I have seen some REALLY good groups so far this year(I was at Viterbo last weekend) I had your directors wife for English class last year(fun fact). Back on topic now.....you all can sing extremely well. I remember seeing you at Omaha Westside my junior year which I think was your groups first year in existence and first competition ever. You guys were good then and if you guys continue improving at the rate have been you will be competitive at a NATIONAL level. Love you guys
Millard North-Same situation as WSD. I know alot of members in your group so for the purpose of saving time Im gonna paraphrase. Your girls in their number sing EXTREMELY well. I loved the opener dresses. This is super picky but I just wish that the rip away skirts had been less see through. Like a thinker fabric because I was it coming before you ripped them off. That was a really creative way though to rip them off. Every group Ive seen with a rip away skirt has the guy rip it off while the girl spins but you just had the girls be like "BAM WE DONT NEED THE GUYS TO DO A COSTUME CHANGE!!!!!" I love you guys <3
Souix Falls- By far my favorite show of the year. You all looked like you were just having a blast. Really creative with the boat set up. Ive never seen that in my time around show choir. Honestly though saying I love you guys a million times wouldnt even express how much I really did. I was so excited to see you again at Omaha Westside and then I went through the program and found out yall arent coming. You all really turned it on in finals. The vocals were fabulous and just wow. The coreography was crisp but still stylistic(didnt look like dancing robots which I like) I honestly have a show choir crush on your whole group!! Your finals is one of those performances that I as an audience member will remember for a long time. MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH love and respect for what you are doing in your program, Jonathan. Also your opener soloist wow. And that tall girl in the front(favorite).
GISH- First off I want to say how happy I am that I get to see you compete at each of the next 3 weekends . The coreography was crisp. Vocals great I really had you in third after prelims but the top three spots could have gone either way with captions going a million different ways! I know a couple kids in your group. I really wish we coulda had lunch or something Reang but Ill see yall the next 3 weeks so there will be more about you to come in the coming weeks.
RUSH- I have always been one of your biggest fans. You ALWAYS have shows that are extremely audience friendly while still being good. You do the really cute songs but dont overdue them which is a very fine line to walk along. I applaud you for succeding in an aspect that a lot of groups cant do. I sat with some of your alumni and through doing that I got to meet some of you all. Honestly you are the nicest group that I have ever met. While talking to you all I felt like I had know you for ever. Back to show choir. Yall sing extremely well and the coreography is great. I CAN NOT wait to see how much you improve between tonight and Omaha Westside(I think you are gonna be there......I hope you are gonna be there) That is all. Love you all
So yea my rankings were NO WHERE near where the real rankings were which is a testament to how close this competition was. 5RU was not far behind GC. I just turned to Austin(tenorisland) after every performance in finals and said I am so excited to see the next one because I dont know how to rank these at all. EVERY group turned it up for prelims which was awesome to see. If anyone wants more in depth critiques just personal message me and Id be happy to....I took notes on all the groups
Because of the fact that people get offended easily I must include this disclaimer. My own thoughts are MY thoughts and in no way,shape,form OR interpretation reflect the groups that I am an alumni off(ATSC and Warrior Express) or our womens group "SI". Ill take it one step further they dont reflect on my entire highschool in any way, shape, form or interpretation. Thank you
Infinate love and respect to all groups that competed today, Jonathan.
Millard North Intensity is actually our prep group, Infinity is our varsity (I know, all the I's are confusing XD)
Can we all take a moment to appreciate the fact that Millard North "Infinity"'s cheer is "To Infinity and beyond!!" And that is adorable.
Why would we dare disgrace the name of Buzz Lightyear? D:
on a non show choir related level....the cookies are as good as ever!!!
I ate like 10. No regrets!!
GC: Cedar Rapids Jefferson "Westside Delegation"
1RU: Elkhorn South "Blackout"
2RU: Millard North "Intensity"
3RU: Sioux Falls Washington "Classic Connection"
4RU: Grand Island Senior High "Ultimate Image"
5RU: Ralston "RUSH"
I had a great day of show choir with Jonny (jbliakos) and Carlos (carlossilva92). All of the groups were honestly fabulous and made for a very impressive competition.
You know its gonna be a good finals when the 4th place group's finals performance blew EVERYONES prelims performance OUT OF THE WATER!!! Souix Falls brought it tonight!! Ralston is next!! The MC is stalling real hard right now.
Prep:
GC: Cedar Rapids Jefferson "Ovation"
1RU: Elkhorn South "Power Surge"
2RU: Elkhorn "Exc!amation"
3RU: Grand Island Senior High "Future Image"
4RU: Millard North "Intensity"
Class B:
GC: Blair "Ovation"
1RU: Fort Calhoun "Phenomenon"
Class A:
GC: Elkhorn "Excel"
1RU: Bellevue East "Take II"
Class AA:
GC: Cedar Rapids Jefferson "Westside Delegation"
1RU: Elkhorn South "Blackout"
2RU: Millard North "Infinity"
3RU: Sioux Falls Washington "Classic Connection"
4RU: Ralston "RUSH"
5RU: Grand Island Senior High "Ultimate Image"
Best Male Soloist: Elkhorn South- Ryan ?
Best Female Soloist: Sioux Falls Washington- Jorie ?
Best Choreography: Elkhorn South "Blackout"
Best Costumes: Cedar Rapids Jefferson "Westside Delegation"
Best Vocals: Cedar Rapids Jefferson "Westside Delegation"
Best Band: Sioux Falls Washington "Classic Connection"
Finals Order: Sioux Falls Washington "Classic Connection", Ralston "RUSH", Elkhorn South "Blackout", Millard North "Intensity", Cedar Rapids Jefferson "Westside Delegation", Grand Island Senior High "Ultimate Image"
Amazing Job to everyone!
Seriously some TOUGH competition. Unfortunately there are more groups that deserve to make finals than there are spots.
It'll be close in finals I think! Everyoneeee should be proud of how the performed tho! :D
No sir I will not come and talk to you because you're onstage getting ready to perform and I hardly think that's the time for conversation. Maybe I'm just old school but I'm gonna say it would be kinda awkward if I did.
Which brings me to my other news which is that Jonny (jbliakos) and I are super excited to see Ultimate Image!! You go GISH!!
Haha that is indeed true! But we need to meet up before we leave maybe at dinner?
I'd like to thank Gretna for the free wifi.
Haha
Ill try to kinda post but I'm immersed in show choir and it's hard to get on here since I'm enjoying it all even in breaks. Haha
But I SHALL post stuff in once I'm home after it all!
I'm so bored at the moment! Someone come talk to me?
No sir I will not come and talk to you because you're onstage getting ready to perform and I hardly think that's the time for conversation. Maybe I'm just old school but I'm gonna say it would be kinda awkward if I did.
Which brings me to my other news which is that Jonny (jbliakos) and I are super excited to see Ultimate Image!! You go GISH!!
Gretna Primetime 2013
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