Both Lights and Sound will be competing at Cedar Rapids Washington this year and are able to do so thanks to this rule change! I'm excited to see them in Iowa
I'm excited to get to see both of the groups Mo-Show is gonna be another competition like Fort, where there are so many great groups that are really evenly matched. It'll be interesting to see how things go.
Thanks for clearing that up for me! I had only competed once in Iowa, and that was during the 2008 competition season.
Both Lights and Sound will be competing at Cedar Rapids Washington this year and are able to do so thanks to this rule change! I'm excited to see them in Iowa
Used to be true but not anymore. In Iowa, members can be in two groups as long as one of them is single-gender now.
Thanks for clearing that up for me! I had only competed once in Iowa, and that was during the 2008 competition season.
California has the rule too, and in my opinion it's not ridiculous.
I think this rule makes a lot of sence. My dad thought it was weird until I compared it to having varsity football players playing for JV. it's not fair to the other teams. Of course, I'm not saying mixed group kids are always better than prep group kids ;)
As a former member of both Lights and Sound, clearly we do have girls in both groups. It's not against the rules in Illinois, Wisconsin, or Indiana, but I do know it is in Iowa.
Used to be true but not anymore. In Iowa, members can be in two groups as long as one of them is single-gender now.
I am not really saying anything with this because I am not complaining with the Prep results at all, but did the Mundelein "Lights" really have some Varsity members in it? A lot of people from Linn-Mar were complaining about this saying that it was unfair to have varsity members in your prep group. I am just curious on the ruling here. Are there rules in other states that that is allowed? Because I am pretty sure that we do not see that around here in Iowa. The "Lights" performed a VERY entertaining show and I am happy for them. In Step performed the best show they could for the day time round and were happy with their performance, but were a bit disappointed in the results and the finding of the varsity members in "Lights". The day was very awesome and we all had a very fun time. Especially with 10th Street getting grand champs. But...yeah....could I have the ruling on those varsity members??
As a former member of both Lights and Sound, clearly we do have girls in both groups. It's not against the rules in Illinois, Wisconsin, or Indiana, but I do know it is in Iowa. At Davenport in 2008 we did not bring our mixed group because we brought both of our single-gendered groups (we had an all boys show choir for 5 years). Almost every girl in Sound is also in Lights- that's just how we do it at Mundelein. It doesn't really give an advantage, the girls are actually more tired throughout the competition day because they have to perform more times (at Fort, the girls had to perform 4 times).
Thanks, and yes I think it's a pretty big consensus within our group 9 to 5 is our weak point clearly, and we've been trying to get better. Hopefully we improve upon it this week. (I'm not a big fan of 9 to 5, I enjoy it and enjoy performing it, just not crazy about it) And yes this was our first competition of the season so we were all for the most part pleasantly surprised on how we did for our first time out and making finals.
One thing i recommended is maybe work on it a bit, and not look at it like your weak point. I know Momentum last year had that same thought on their second song last year, and when they seemed to embrace it, they went and kicked some major butt at Kennedy's competition! Just look at it as another song in a good show!
Davenport North- Well... the show started off very good. I wasn't sure how to feel about the rest tho. I felt like it could have been cleaner and the vocals were super bright. The closer is a HUGE weak point in the show. I feel like that might have distracted me from the rest of the show. I didn't agree with a lot of it, but i also feel like 9 to 5 isn't a great closer song. Great job making finals tho, and I hope to see you make it and tighten it up more at Great River! This is your first competition correct??
Thanks, and yes I think it's a pretty big consensus within our group 9 to 5 is our weak point clearly, and we've been trying to get better. Hopefully we improve upon it this week. (I'm not a big fan of 9 to 5, I enjoy it and enjoy performing it, just not crazy about it) And yes this was our first competition of the season so we were all for the most part pleasantly surprised on how we did for our first time out and making finals.
Parkview: LOVE THE GIRL WITH THE RED HAIR! She was fantastic and her hair was BEAUTIFUL! Best hair of the day. Keep working on cleaning up the choreography. Slow, laborious work is what is needed, but it will produce results. Also keep pumping out the singing, more volume and tone was needed.
Green Bay Preble: I actually loved the show. In my opinion the vocals were a little too bright. The 2nd song is great with the character voice, but a little deeper of a tone in the rest of the show would really make the contrast pop more (see Huntington North 2010 when they did Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend). I loved the contrast in styles in your show. It made it fun to watch!!!! Dancing was great, especially in the closer. I also liked the closer dresses a lot. Lots of energy, great performing abilities, a solid vocal base. Really good show, in my opinion.
Sauk Prairie: I got to see the show at Onalaska, and I feel your performance there was much better. The sound system at Fort was better than at Ona, but you guys sounded much more full at Ona. Work on maintaining the sound throughout the show. I still don't like how most of the show the group is just acting and not dancing, but I do think that the level of choreography was up this year from last year. I also like the musical selection more this year. As always, great facial work.
Momentum: You know I love the show, and we all know the ballad was a TRAINWRECK in finals, so you should be extremely proud of placing so high at this tough competition. That means all the basics are there. The level of singing was top-notch and probably 2nd only to Linn-Mar (maybe Hersey too). Keep working and fixing the little details and I cannot wait to see your show next week
Linn-Mar: The show is SO improved from Viterbo. The projection is up, the show is MUCH cleaner, and there is sustained energy throughout the show, which we did not see at Viterbo. The closer was very messy at Viterbo, but here everything was really clean. The band was rockin too This was a well-deserved GC and sweep. To agree with Chris, the level of camaraderie between you and Wash was GREAT to see
Davenport North: Wow. You guys came out with SO MUCH ENERGY. You guys wanted to make finals here, we could all tell. The beginning of the show was really clean and had so much energy and the vocals were SOLID. This was just so great to see from Northside. I really enjoyed the song selections--- except the closer. To me it's just a gimmicky retake of Mt. Zion's "Car Wash" but with a different song. Basically the same idea and choreography, but with a worse song choice. It was a disappointment, but only because the rest of the show was just REALLY good. I mean this was a surprising show from NSE in a really good way. I can't wait to see how the show improves for next week
Hersey: I was honestly wowed by the day performance. The vocals were really strong. Linn-Mar and Wash's bands were overplaying a little during day, and since yours wasn't it made the vocals project really clearly. The ballad is lovely- very well-sung. The choreography in your show is fairly clean, but for the level of difficulty it really should be cleaner. I know this was your first competition so keep working on that, and it will be an easy fix. The closer to me is just not a closer. I was surprised in both rounds that it was the end of your show, even though I knew it was coming. It just is more like an opener, or a 2nd song going into a ballad. Idk if it is possible to change around any songs or not. I thought the day performance was SO strong, and in finals the show wasn't as good, in my opinion. But i definitely think you guys deserved to move up in finals.
Prospect: Wow to the lights. Very cool. The choreography was REALLY clean, and the composition of it was quite outstanding. I personally thought you guys had the best choreography of the entire day. On the other hand, the band completely overplayed you the entire show. There were maybe twenty words I could hear the entire show, maybe thirty notes heard at all. It was just impossible to hear any word sung, and that is such a shame because the show otherwise was just absolutely GREAT. With a little balance fix, this show would've been a contender for GC.
Craig: I got to see the Milton video. HOLY CRAP YOUR PERFORMANCE AT FORT WAS 10000 TIMES BETTER! It was sung in tune (though still a little shouty). The dancing was so much cleaner, and the energy was just breathtakingly awesome. What a fun show and I cannot wait to see it at Mo-Show! Congrats on the high placing! What a well-deserved honor.
Mundelein: The way you get into every second of your show is a director's dream. The BEST performing group I may have ever seen. Every face was on and communicating sincere emotions. I could use a little more mature of a tone throughout the show- a little less throat and more soft palate space is needed. The choreography was great, and the show is so fun. The closer is kinda disjointed from the rest of the show, but I didn't care cuz it is totally my style and is so cute. I love the lyrics in that song. The faces could maybe be a little more over-the-top in the closer, just to accentuate the really funny lines. But a really fine show and VERY solid. I can't wait to see you at Mo-Show!
In day round I had it going like this (out of the groups I saw):
Hersey (best vocals)
Linn-Mar (best band)
Craig
CR Washington
Mundelein
Green Bay Preble
Davenport North
Prospect (best choreography)
Sauk Prairie
Parkview
Day Round was just SO spread out and SO evenly matched, it was really hard to predict how things would go. I would've loved to see Preble in finals, because I really loved the show, but I think the early time slot hurt them. However, I did agree with the way finals were placed. I think the judges got this one right in finals. Congrats to everyone. It was just a fun day, and every show was just really really really good.
Prebel- I was shocked by you guys! I had never seen you before, never heard of you guys really until I saw Gus posting on here. The overall show was good, i liked the choreography, i liked the vocals, liked the band. Overall I can tell it is a choir that is going to be a force in the next few years!
AGREE! I really love the show, too. Especially the jumps at the end in the bows... those are so cool!!!
ALRIGHT! Sooooo... as i've already stated... such an amazing day. I loved this competition, everyone was super nice, the food was great, i loved the gym! The ONLY problem i had was that it was a black hole when it came to signal.
I was very proud to see Linn-Mar and Washington come together, cheering each other on, and having fun! Just makes me very happy to see!
here is how i had it after day round:
John Hersey
Mt. Prospect
Linn Mar
Janesville
Momentum
Mundelein
clearly I was was off!
here are some thoughts on the shows I saw
Prebel- I was shocked by you guys! I had never seen you before, never heard of you guys really until I saw Gus posting on here. The overall show was good, i liked the choreography, i liked the vocals, liked the band. Overall I can tell it is a choir that is going to be a force in the next few years!
Sauk Prairie- Honestly I was slightly disapointed with you guys. I am USUALLY not a fan, but I liked what I saw at Onalaska. However i feel like this was a step back. I couldn't hear you guys at all, i felt the choreography you had was sloppy. I understand you are never going to be the most fun choir to watch, or have the best choreography because you are trying to make it appropriate for the song, but at the very least I wish you would have it cleaner. The tap part was very sloppy, and covered up the soloist a bunch. I hope you bring it together for next week at Great River!
Mt. Prospect- I really liked the show! LOVED the choreography! Props to Alex Hall! I wasn't a fan of having sneakers, I understand why you guys had them, but it was VERY distracting while you were performing, a lot of foot noise from them. The backdrop was awesome and i LOVED the band. BUT... the worst part is i couldn't understand a thing you said at all. The ballad was beautiful and did show off your vocals, but wish I could have had them the whole show. I feel like if you tighten that up you could be a contender this year.
Davenport North- Well... the show started off very good. I wasn't sure how to feel about the rest tho. I felt like it could have been cleaner and the vocals were super bright. The closer is a HUGE weak point in the show. I feel like that might have distracted me from the rest of the show. I didn't agree with a lot of it, but i also feel like 9 to 5 isn't a great closer song. Great job making finals tho, and I hope to see you make it and tighten it up more at Great River! This is your first competition correct??
Mundelein- I liked the show. But i wasn't sold on it. You guys REALLY perform tho! You have great faces, a great time on stage. wasn't a huge fan of Fireflies. The closer was fun!, but to me it felt out of place a tad. Looked great tho!
John Hersey- wow! So I loved the theme of the show, i loved the costumes, each song was wonderful, but it didn't flow as much as I wish.... i feel like the theme of the show was taken a bit TOO literally? Great vocals, good clean choreography. I was shocked to hear you guys were in 5th after day round. The closer was a bit... awkward tho... didn't feel like a closer and the choreo was very suggestive at the start. Good job moving up in finals, i feel like you deserved it!
Janesville Craig- The energy you bring to the stage is just an insane amount. I loved the choreography so great job Ben! The show seemed a bit forced during the day round and I feel like the vocals suffered. to me, it seemed more like yelling then singing, but probly was hurt by the fact you were dancing with such amazing energy. I didn't get to see your finals performance because we were with Momentum during thier warm up, but congrats on your placing!
Linn-Mar - What AMAZING improvements from Viterbo. I LOVED the show, this is probly my favorite linn-mar show in quite some time. The opener is just haunting beautiful, the ballad is amazing. i felt during the day it was a little sloppy and so was the small group at Black and Gold and the closer seemed very chaotic. how ever your finals performance to me was near flawles.. The opener was even better, the closer was SOOOO energetic. Congrats on your WELL deserved Grand Championship. Wish you were coming back to mo-show this year tho!
Momentum- I don't want to rant and rave but I just saw this show at Linn-Mar so far and was let down a smidge... seeing the show during the day i wasn't AS sold as I hoped to be especially hearing about you guys at Muscatine. I went to the critique, and then talked to almost every once of you with Jay and andrew, and to see your finals performance made me SO happy. You improved leaps and bounds, in my opinion. I can't WAIT to see what you bring to Great River, keep improving and so proud of you for taking 2nd here.
Iowa is the only state that has ever had any such ridiculous rule. The show choir gestapo that rules Iowa has a number of ridiculous rules.
California has the rule too, and in my opinion it's not ridiculous.
As the director of the Mundelein Lights(and Sound), yes, there are female members of Sound in the Lights group. The first year we came to Ft. Atkinson, Lights was put in the prep division. The second year I signed both Sound and Lights in the competition division and for the record they both made finals. Since that year, even though I would gladly put Lights in the competition division, that is not what the contest wants, so they have been in the prep division. I don't see them as a prep group necessarily and certainly just want them to have a chance to perform their show for a (hopefully) large audience since they work very hard to be excellent. I'm sorry if anyone feels cheated by that. I think everyone did a great job on Saturday and was impressed with the groups at the contest. It was challenging while being a lot of fun. This is the end of my one post per year rule. Bye, Show Choir Dot Com!
I am not really saying anything with this because I am not complaining with the Prep results at all, but did the Mundelein "Lights" really have some Varsity members in it? A lot of people from Linn-Mar were complaining about this saying that it was unfair to have varsity members in your prep group. I am just curious on the ruling here. Are there rules in other states that that is allowed? Because I am pretty sure that we do not see that around here in Iowa. The "Lights" performed a VERY entertaining show and I am happy for them. In Step performed the best show they could for the day time round and were happy with their performance, but were a bit disappointed in the results and the finding of the varsity members in "Lights". The day was very awesome and we all had a very fun time. Especially with 10th Street getting grand champs. But...yeah....could I have the ruling on those varsity members??
Iowa is the only state that has ever had any such ridiculous rule. The show choir gestapo that rules Iowa has a number of ridiculous rules.
North: Although the choreography was a little odd at times, it was clean and your vocals were shockingly good - from your show alone, I can see why Iowa groups are a threat wherever they go. (I didn't get to see Wash and Linn-Mar, as Preble's 4 solos, including myself, were performing at this time).
Wow, nice to hear someone think they were clean! We've worked hard to get things clean and put a big emphasis on vocals. This was our first competition out so nice to hear that. Interested though, in what you or other thought of our closer if you saw it, 9 to 5. Seems to be our weak link that we still got the most work to do on.
As far as I know there is an "IOWA" state rule that performers can only be in one performing group. This happened to Mundelein many years ago at Great River and the error wasnt regonized until after both groups (*Lights/Sounds) were announced in finals. They ended up having to allow only one group to compete in finals. As far as I know any competition in Iowa has to follow the Iowa SHow Choir rules. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, ETC ETC only have rules per competition. It is up to the competition to decide what they want to allow or not allow.
*Also realize that in Iowa/Minn they have Prep groups--(*Like a JV team in sports) but in Illinois Single-Gender groups are more popular. This isnt a younger group or JV but a group consisting of all girls. So most groups allow any member to join.
This rule actually has been changed in Iowa, allowing members to be in two groups as long as one of them is single gender. There did used to be a rule barring this, however.
As far as I know there is an "IOWA" state rule that performers can only be in one performing group. This happened to Mundelein many years ago at Great River and the error wasnt regonized until after both groups (*Lights/Sounds) were announced in finals. They ended up having to allow only one group to compete in finals. As far as I know any competition in Iowa has to follow the Iowa SHow Choir rules. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, ETC ETC only have rules per competition. It is up to the competition to decide what they want to allow or not allow.
*Also realize that in Iowa/Minn they have Prep groups--(*Like a JV team in sports) but in Illinois Single-Gender groups are more popular. This isnt a younger group or JV but a group consisting of all girls. So most groups allow any member to join.
Woo, so many things to say.
First, yes, Lights has Sound girls in the group and this is not against Wisconsin rules (nor, apparently, against Mo Show's.)
Secondly, thanks to everybody at Fort for an amazing day! All of our hosts were super funny and welcoming, and so were some people from MG, Westosha, and Craig who I met throughout the day (as well as the hilarious trio of Chris, Jay, and Andrew).
I hope everyone who watched Preble's show in the wee hours of the morning enjoyed it, and I certainly enjoyed all the shows I saw through the day. Taking 7th at this competition this intense was an honor. Some thoughts:
North: Although the choreography was a little odd at times, it was clean and your vocals were shockingly good - from your show alone, I can see why Iowa groups are a threat wherever they go. (I didn't get to see Wash and Linn-Mar, as Preble's 4 solos, including myself, were performing at this time).
Hersey: Although you had the best vocals out of any show I saw, I have to admit that I was confused by your show. The choreography and energy seemed minimalist at times...
Prospect: You guys were rocking out the whole time, and the light show was awesome, but try and cut down on the sneaker noise and band levels - they were both too much at times.
Craig: Amazing. As always. Congrats on a great job!
Mundelein: This was my first time seeing you guys live, and I was duly impressed. The opener was soo in-sync, both vocally and choreographically, and the entire show was so much fun to watch.
I am not really saying anything with this because I am not complaining with the Prep results at all, but did the Mundelein "Lights" really have some Varsity members in it? A lot of people from Linn-Mar were complaining about this saying that it was unfair to have varsity members in your prep group. I am just curious on the ruling here. Are there rules in other states that that is allowed? Because I am pretty sure that we do not see that around here in Iowa. The "Lights" performed a VERY entertaining show and I am happy for them. In Step performed the best show they could for the day time round and were happy with their performance, but were a bit disappointed in the results and the finding of the varsity members in "Lights". The day was very awesome and we all had a very fun time. Especially with 10th Street getting grand champs. But...yeah....could I have the ruling on those varsity members??
Fort Atkinson Showcase 2011
Mo-Show is gonna be another competition like Fort, where there are so many great groups that are really evenly matched. It'll be interesting to see how things go.
