Almost two months after Great River, the scores were FINALLY posted on the website
Prelims order-
Legg
1st- Cedar Rapids Kennedy (211.5)
2nd- Linn-Mar (209)
3rd- Iowa City High (198.5)
4th- Cedar Rapids Washington (197.5)
5th- Sauk Prairie (196)
6th- Iowa City West (195.5)
7th- Davenport North (189.5)
8th- Crete Monee and Sioux Falls Washington (183.5)
10th- Bettendorf (180)
11th- Reedsburg (172)
Brezeale
1st- Cedar Rapids Kennedy (208.5)
2nd- Linn-Mar (195.5)
3rd- Sauk Prairie (179)
4th- Iowa City High (178.5)
5th- Iowa City West (173.5)
6th- Cedar Rapids Washington (169.5)
7th- Bettendorf (168.5)
8th- Davenport North (164.5)
9th- Crete-Monee (163.5)
10th- Sioux Falls Washington (163)
11th- Reedsburg (133.5)
Engstrom
1st- Cedar Rapids Kennedy (223.5)
2nd- Iowa City High (212)
3rd- Linn-Mar (210)
4th- Sauk Prairie (204)
5th- Cedar Rapids Washington (196)
6th- Iowa City West (185.5)
7th- Davenport North (176.5)
8th- Crete-Monee (173.5)
9th- Sioux Falls Washington (162.5)
10th- Bettendforf (161.5)
11th- Reedsburg (154)
Day Totals
1st- Cedar Rapids Kennedy (643.5)
2nd- Linn-Mar (614.5)
3rd- Iowa City High (589)
4th- Sauk Prairie (579)
5th- Cedar Rapids Washington (563)
6th- Iowa City West (554.5)
7th- Davenport North (530.5)
8h- Crete-Monee (520.5)
9th- Bettendorf (510)
10th- Sioux Falls Washington (509)
11th- Reedsburg (459.5)
I remember being very disappointed with the quality of Great River videos last year, which is why I decided not to purchase one this year. Maybe next year they'll try a different company.
The DVDS were not produced by the same company this year. I'd take last years DVD any day over this years.
I remember being very disappointed with the quality of Great River videos last year, which is why I decided not to purchase one this year. Maybe next year they'll try a different company.
I'm a bit ticked off- because apparently Kennedy's overhead mics were off the entire show. It didn't matter at the competition, because I was sitting straight out from where the vocals were coming from. But it is quite apparent that the only microphone that is picking up the vocals is in the balcony. The mic picks up more audience reactions than vocals... the resulting sound isn't loud and is VERY echoey. Some of the shots Mediacom chooses as well are baffling. Its great to feature a soloist- but when you are missing a full minute of exciting choreography and group moments, something is wrong. The sound seemed to work fine for all the other groups.
I'll be uploading Kennedy finals tonight... but I think I am going to be purchasing their day round to put that up.
-edit-
I've watched more now...
Mics that worked at Great River are just not being picked up at all by this recording. It has to do with Mediacom... not the competition.
In the day round I had it going
1st- Cedar Rapids Kennedy
2nd- Linn-Mar
3rd- Iowa City High
4th- Cedar Rapids Washington
5th- Crete Monee
6th- Sauk Prairie
7th- Iowa City West
8th- Sioux Falls Washington
9th- Bettendorf
10th- Davenport North
11th- Reedsburg
Kennedy- Another fantastic show! I thought that you guys were beyond impressive at Big Dance, and I thought that you had built upon that since then. You were the only group that I heard all day that actually filled up the entire Adler Theater with sound. Choreography was extremely tight. I'm still not completely sold on Transylvania Mania. Ballad was kind of shaky at times, but once the band came in it sounded great. A very good performance and I didn't see it going any other way except with you guys coming out on top.
Linn-Mar- You guys are good! A very clean April group, as most of them are. The vocal tone was very dark throughout the entire show, but it sounded great. There were some blocking issues, but it wasn't too bad. The only other thing I can point out is that sometimes your show gets too intense and scary. Very good job!
Iowa City High- I didn't really find much of a difference between this year's show and last year's show. I think you guys sounded good throughout the entire show, but the choreography wasn't intense. I'm not a fan of self-promotion unless it's a novelty, but this time it didn't do it for me. The closer had the intensity that I was looking for the entire show, but it didn't reach it's peak in my mind's eye.
Cedar Rapids Washington- I feel the show could just use some repetition and some fine tuning. Not everybody's arms were at the same angle, etc. The vocal tone was okay, but I've heard Washington groups sing better. Much better than I expected, but still not a great show.
Iowa City West- I'm just going to say it, I don't like your guys' show. I think that the opener tries too much to be one of those powerful numbers, but it falls flat. I don't like the second number but that's just me. The ballad is decent. "Vehicle" could be a LOT more interesting. I love "Fool"; the girls sounded awesome. You guys close out with an okay closer. I guess my main gripe is the choreography. You guys seem to do a little choreography, then sing; I can't stand that. You guys did what you could with the show, and that's all I can ask for.
Sauk Prairie- A vast improvement over what I saw at Monona Grove. The vocals are getting out more, the choreography is much cleaner, you guys are going even more over the top with your show, etc. I still think it's better when the whole choir sings then when it's small snippets of people. I also think that Best Male Soloist should've gone to the "Dandy" soloist. I thought he was great at Monona, and just like your guys' show he was much better at Great River. The show kind of drags on for a while until the end. Overall I liked it.
Crete Monee- I thought that you guys should have definitely been in finals. The first song was really intense with the choreography but the vocals were lacking. The second song was sloppy, and the vocals were kind of lacking. It almost seems that, halfway through your ballad, you guys kicked it up a notch. When you went into that a capella section, I just thought, "Whoa. So these guys can sing." After the ballad the show just completely kicked into high gear. The closer was outstanding, and really portrayed the energy that you guys had at the end of the show.
I didn't get to watch finals except for the two Iowa City schools because I was getting ready for our performance.
hehehe thats adorable. my mom is beaming right now =>
she wants me to tell you that it was a pleasure sitting next to you and she wants an invitation to your first show choir show that you'll direct =>
It was my pleasure. And, yes... she will be sure to get an invitation to one of my first show choir's show. Whoever and whenever that will be!
Hi-
I got some great shots from the day round on Saturday. They're posted on my site and available for download. Just go to www.htimages.com and click on "client gallery". Then select the Great River Show Choir Competition gallery. The shows were all amazing (as they are every year!). I'm always blown away at the talent you all have -- makes shooting photography at these things such a pleasure!
Thanks,
Holly
HT Images
I always seem to sit next to a parent (at Great River, its always been Happiness moms) then begin chatting it up with, and then fall in love with because they are so sweet. 2009 was no disappointment... this years super nice show choir parent award goes to Joyce, of Happiess, Inc. She's a peach!
hehehe thats adorable. my mom is beaming right now =>
she wants me to tell you that it was a pleasure sitting next to you and she wants an invitation to your first show choir show that you'll direct =>
I always seem to sit next to a parent (at Great River, its always been Happiness moms) then begin chatting it up with, and then fall in love with because they are so sweet. 2009 was no disappointment... this years super nice show choir parent award goes to Joyce, of Happiess, Inc. She's a peach!
Her name is Joyce Sankey. Liz is her daughter. She's my favorite
Sauk Prairie- You deserved this placing! Such an entertaining show… but I do NOT agree on the Best Male Soloist being the little boy… “They Call Him Dandy” soloist deserved it. He was simply outstanding! WHAT A VOICE! The small boy was good, but we were all really confused when he got it. Maybe there was a mistake with the names?
Actually, a lot of us were happy when Kevin won over Josh. Josh has won best male soloist in all of our competitions so far this year, and it was awesome to see our cute little freshman win an award. It was a nice surprise. But yeah, Josh's voice IS pretty much amazing.
In 27 years of doing this, I've never had a group compared to Sasquatch!! Maybe the girls DIDN'T shave their legs or armpits, but you have no right to say such a thing,........huh,..........what's that,.......it's a what,..........it's a COMPLIMENT? Oh. (crickets chirp, snails crawl, wind blows),.............................................THANKS, Jorge!!!!
No problem Damon! You gave Happiness, Inc. amazing stuff!
What a wonderful contest Great River was! Congratulations to Happiness, Inc. We supporters of 10th Street Edition may not agree with you about what makes a great show, but you are definitely selling your show in an impressive way! Everyone at Linn-Mar has incredible respect for what you are doing, and love that we have such a healthy competition going.
The evening finals were amazing and that was reflected in the final results with just 8 pts. out of a possible 1440 separating these two remarkable groups. The contest was not ranked but if it had been 3 judges had Linn-Mar in 1st and 3 had us in second. The same for Kennedy with 3 judges in 1st and 3 judges in 2. Wow! It does not get much closer. What a great way to represent the high school choirs in the Cedar Rapids Metro area!
as for yesterday, we went into finals in 6th place, not 5th. and i believe fourth ave was in 3rd going into finals, but i'm not entirely sure. the thing that kept our spirits up was how well we did last year in the same situation - we went into finals at Great River 2008 in 6th, and ended up in 2nd! so even though we aren't that great or consistent of a group, it gave us some hope.
this is always a good competition, and it was a really fun one to end my show choir career on. as someone said earlier, i can't believe how much we (ic west) have improved this year, especially since linn mar. we have a really young group this year and a new choir director, so things have been rough. but i think we finally got it together yesterday. also, im interested in hearing what people thought of our show this year.
congrats to happiness! i'm always jealous of your costumes and props. great show.
In 27 years of doing this, I've never had a group compared to Sasquatch!! Maybe the girls DIDN'T shave their legs or armpits, but you have no right to say such a thing,........huh,..........what's that,.......it's a what,..........it's a COMPLIMENT? Oh. (crickets chirp, snails crawl, wind blows),.............................................THANKS, Jorge!!!!
Davenport Great River Show Choir Invitational 2009
