I would also like to say that, even amidst all of the shock Saturday night, every "Soundsations" member that I met afterwards still acted with the class and respect for the other choirs that has always been signature of Petal choirs. For that, among other things, they are to be commended.
Amen! Not one member or parent said a negative word about anything that had happened that night. Every comment I heard was positive. And I admire them deeply for that.
I'm a little confused. Whenever you add up SJ and Opelika's rankings.... You come up with: SJ: 1.8 Opelika: 1.8... How did they come up with a clear decision?
This group of judges was very diverse as far as their backgrounds and where they reside, and as far as I know didn't have many connections, so I don't think Cody's conspiracy theroy will hold up.
Whoa, whoa, whoa...let's pump the brakes here. lol
I think my "conspiracy theory" comment came across the wrong way; it was intended to put literary emphasis on how seriously unbelievable it was to me that Petal was held out of Finals. I did not intend to imply that any actual conspiracy was in place against Petal.
I would also like to say that, even amidst all of the shock Saturday night, every "Soundsations" member that I met afterwards still acted with the class and respect for the other choirs that has always been signature of Petal choirs. For that, among other things, they are to be commended.
Well I have to agree with Cody on this one, except for the conspiracy theroy. I saw Petal's show as well and also thought it was not their best performance, and that was excluding the tower and clothing problems. I thougth their vocals were not as good as Opelika's and South's on this night. The fact that Petal scored lower across the board is supprising to me as well, and I have to take Cody's word on that as I haven't see any score sheets. This group of judges was very diverse as far as their backgrounds and where they reside, and as far as I know didn't have many connections, so I don't think Cody's conspiracy theroy will hold up. Those of us who have been around show choir know that with diffrent judges each week you never know that they will like and what they are looking far. That being said it is still hard for me to understand how Petal didn't make the finals. I would also like to say that Petal handled the situation with much class and I wish them the best at the Warrenville Wheaton Competition this weekend.
Ok I have a request, since I was working with loading and unloading of equipment all day and only heard like three or four groups, those who had the chance to hear most of the groups please give us some feedback on what you thought of the sound in the auditorium. The reason I am asking this is I am curious what other people thought and it being a new auditorium this is the first event of this kind. I will say the few groups that I had the chance to listen to I thought the sound was excellent.
I thought the acoustics for the auditorium were excellent for the shows I saw. Even in the Middle school comps Friday Night where they were using recordings, the sound was great. Also, the entire auditorium was eye-pleasing. Great competition from all of the choirs, great hospitality from the host parents and students, appreciate the help and offers of assistance unloading the truck. Look forward to returning in the future.
The rankings of the groups and the rankings of the captions were seperate. Each judge placed all the groups and then voted on a overall effect, visual, vocal, band, and costume winner. Three judges had opelika first and two had south jones first with the ranking system.
"I thought it was completely unfair that Petal did not make finals. I do believe the main cause of them not making it was the tower falling, but that was not the choir's fault and everyone on stage did an AMAZING job at covering..."
The falling tower incident did not cause them not to make finals. They had low marks in every category on every judge's score sheet, some of which clearly were undeserved. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I'd be all over this one.
Pascagoula
How much longer until you guys decide to move up to the largest division? You clearly have a director who knows how to succeed, and the talent is in place. I think you will be even more highly looked upon, and start winning Grand Championships if you'll make the jump to AA/AAA. Congrats on another successful season.
Opelika
It's taken a few years, but "Ovations" looks to be rejoining the elite groups in the South. The group that I saw yesterday was in Grand Championship form, and has a chance to really make a huge impact next year. Can't wait to see you build on this year's success. Congratulations on your placements this year, and your well-deserved Grand Championship at the W.J. Invitational!
Petal
I wouldn't say this if I didn't seriously mean it: what happened to "Soundsations" yesterday might have been the most absurd result I've ever seen in Southern show choir. Your scores were worse than most people realize; what I saw was unbelievable to me. I watched your performance closely yesterday, and saw many more flaws than in your shows earlier this season; however, by general standards, it was still much better than two of the finalists preliminary performances that I saw (even with your column and costume malfunctions). You simply did not deserve all of the low marks you got. I will never forget that you should have been a finalist and Grand Championship contender at this competition.
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To answer Arbelindabay's question:
The Finals ranks between Opelika and South Jones were indeed close; in fact, they were as close as possible without having a tie, or going the other way.
Right before announcements of placement last night, I was told by someone from West Jones that "There were several ties in the scoring, and that is why it took so long to get the results out." However, when I looked at Finals scoresheets, there were no ties at all...so I'm not sure what that was all about.
Captions were decided on by voting on the panel of judges, and were not directly related to the Finals rankings. I don't necessarily agree with this method, for the exact reason that you saw last night.
Regardless, Opelika won the Grand Championship, and they deserved it. I've seen and heard worse things happen in results, so I won't complain about what happened with the captions last night. lol
I do not agree with that. Things like that shouldn't affect result, in my opinion. She covered like a true professional. I was proud of her and I admire her because of how she handled herself despite her dress. Honestly, I never knew something was wrong until she left the stage during the dance break which I knew she normally danced. I give high props to her.
It takes an awesome performer to handle that kind of situation well. I congratulate the soloist (Kimberly?). You get it girl!
I'm a little confused. How did South Jones win "Best Vocals", "Best Costumes", and "Best Overall Effect" and not receive Grand Champion. Can someone explain this?
This is similar to the West Jones "Sassy" incident at Opelika where Sassy won 3 of 4 captions and didn't even place.. Finals go not by accumulated scores, but by rankings, or a "wow" factor.. I'm not sure costumes are a huge deal, but I, myself, felt for sure that when South won Effect and Vocals that they had won the whole thing.. My guess is that sections of South Jones's show were better than Opelika's in the judges' eyes, but Opelika's show must have impressed them more than Company's overall.. I feel like if Finals would have gone by accumulation, then South Jones would have won, because I didn't feel like Opelika would have been far enough ahead in Visuals to overcome being second in Effect and Vocals.. Either way, it was extremely close.. South Jones has nothing to hang their head about..
I'm a little confused. How did South Jones win "Best Vocals", "Best Costumes", and "Best Overall Effect" and not receive Grand Champion. Can someone explain this?
Not difficult:
Not sure what the breakdown was... but for an example... let's say that choreo and vocals are 40% each and overal effect is 20%
(DISCLAIMER: NOT REAL NUMBERS... JUST FOR PROVING A POINT).
Opelika: Vocals = 37, Choreo = 38, Overall Effect = 19... 95 TOTAL
South Jones: Vocals = 38, Choreo = 35, Overall Effect = 20... 93 TOTAL
I'm a little confused. How did South Jones win "Best Vocals", "Best Costumes", and "Best Overall Effect" and not receive Grand Champion. Can someone explain this?
West Jones Invitational 2009
