I'm excited to go- I haven't missed a single Benton since 2009- my freshman year in high school.
Wow I'm old... Anyway, my prediction:
GC: Waukee
1RU: Valley
2RU: IC West
3RU: IC High
4RU: Toss-up: Xavier/Wash
Also, the 6th Finalist is reserved for the champion of the 2A/3A division. So...
5RU: Pella?
Captions: No. Idea. It's going to be a bloodbath for Best Vocals. Waukee, City, West, have ALL won Best Vocals so far this year.
I love this competition. It's going to be a tight race. It seems like Waukee is doing even better this year than they were last year, and Valley is REALLY picking up momentum (props to Ryan Denigan). IC West (my alma mater) has had a great season so far- they beat Valley in the day round at Waukee, but lost to them at night, and last year (I'm not sure if this is totes relevant), lost to Waukee here at Benton. Not to mention their win last weekend at Bloomington Kennedy. City is doing incredible (MAJOR props to Jim Berry), especially with their fantastic win at Supernova. Xavier's always done pretty well at this competition, they're great to watch. Wash has beaten Bemidji, Dav North, and Dav Central, Waconia and Ankeny so they must be pretty good-I just haven't heard them or seen them this year.
As always, there are some awesome AWESOME judges.
As far as the Prep Division goes, I'm looking at the top 3 being Showtime, Spirit, and Ignition (not necessarily in that order).
QUOTE (juliofrommississippi @ Feb 11 2014, 02:04 PM)
It wouldn't surprise me at all if Linn-Mar won at Monona Grove this weekend, too! That would make 6 at Kennedy also! I'm really excited that I will get to watch every prep/open class group this weekend! It's going to be so entertaining!
Jay....I expect updates from you the whole time. Just sayin. Lol.
It wouldn't surprise me at all if Linn-Mar won at Monona Grove this weekend, too! That would make 6 at Kennedy also! I'm really excited that I will get to watch every prep/open class group this weekend! It's going to be so entertaining!
If you look at competitons in Iowa this year solely on the basis of number of groups that have won a Grand Championship, then Benton is one of only two competitons in Iowa with six groups (Washington, City High, Xavier, West, Valley, and Waukee) having won GC's along with the Waukee competiton (Xavier, Totino-Grace, Sioux City East, Prairie, West, and Valley). The only other competiton in Iowa this year (at least at this point in time) that comes close is Kennedy Raise the Roof (Washington, Prairie, Xavier, West, and Urbandale) with five GC groups.
I feel like this will be one of the strongest competitions in Iowa this year along with Linn-Mar and Urbandale! But what's cool about this one is that all the groups are from Iowa so it'll be nice to see how groups fair against each other with no out-of-state competition. This one is gonna be so close and I'm so excited that I'm able to make it to this! Here are my predictions:
GC: Waukee (BV, BC)
1RU: IC West
2RU: IC High (BB)
3RU: WDM Valley
4RU: CR Washington
5RU: Pella
Here's just a quick look at how Wash, Xavier, Valley, Waukee, City High, and West have fared against each other this season:
Wash: lost to City High at Linn-Mar
Xavier: tied with City High and lost on tiebreaker at Prairie, lost to Waukee at Prairie, lost to West and Valley at Waukee
Valley: beat Xavier and West at Waukee
Waukee: beat Xavier and City High at Prairie
City High: tied with Xavier and won on tiebreaker at Prairie, lost to Waukee at Prairie, beat Wash at Linn-Mar
West: lost to Valley at Waukee, beat Xavier at Waukee
Six groups with GCs, only five final spots for 4A groups, let the fun begin!
Yep this is shaping up into an epic competition!! Waukee, Valley, Iowa City, Iowa City West, Washington, and now Xavier. Hard to imagine taking one of these out of finals!
QUOTE (juliofrommississippi @ Feb 05 2014, 11:11 PM)
Disclaimer: it's been 4 years since I've attended Benton and a full decade since I've been there competitively, so things may have changed a bit since I was there.
Basically you walk in and there is the cafeteria. To the right is the gym, where the performances are. It's all very centrally located within the school. The school is small if you're used to a 4A school and not hard to find your way around really.
Like I said, the venue is a gym, on a raised stage. The judges are 2/3 to 3/4 of the way back in the gym, raised to stage level, so not very high. They'll see things head-on. Pretty consistent with other gym competitions around here. If I remember from 2010, the lighting is pretty bright, which could effect any set pieces used. Sound is usually decent- it's a gym, so it's not going to be that great. It was maybe a little quiet in 2010 when I went, but I don't remember any problems in the mid 2000s. I believe they have projection screens inside the gym that have video feed during performances, as well as fun texting questions between groups.
I've always LOVED the atmosphere at Benton. It is cozy, laid-back, friendly. The stamps they give you are black light, and I always thought that was a cool idea. The stamp doesn't show onstage at all, and the way they check the stamp is pretty neat. It just feels different from other competitions- was always one of my favorites in high school. I believe there is also a karaoke room??
Another thing I've always loved about Benton was the Best Performer Award. There is a judge who sits there all day and picks one performer from each group as the best. It's just a neat thing for the kids. Also they have fun captions like Most Creative Show and Best Song in a Show.
Van Horne is a pretty secluded little town. If you are wanting food, but not wanting concession food you'll either have to drive to Vinton or Cedar Rapids, so just warning you so you can plan! There's also a gas station in Van Horne which has a little grille inside. It can get kinda backed up around lunch time.
That's pretty much all you need to know, I think. I'm super excited for this competition and have been all year!
P.S. One thing I forgot to mention is it ALWAYS SNOWS the weekend of Benton!
Awesome! Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for the info!
Disclaimer: it's been 4 years since I've attended Benton and a full decade since I've been there competitively, so things may have changed a bit since I was there.
Basically you walk in and there is the cafeteria. To the right is the gym, where the performances are. It's all very centrally located within the school. The school is small if you're used to a 4A school and not hard to find your way around really.
Like I said, the venue is a gym, on a raised stage. The judges are 2/3 to 3/4 of the way back in the gym, raised to stage level, so not very high. They'll see things head-on. Pretty consistent with other gym competitions around here. If I remember from 2010, the lighting is pretty bright, which could effect any set pieces used. Sound is usually decent- it's a gym, so it's not going to be that great. It was maybe a little quiet in 2010 when I went, but I don't remember any problems in the mid 2000s. I believe they have projection screens inside the gym that have video feed during performances, as well as fun texting questions between groups.
I've always LOVED the atmosphere at Benton. It is cozy, laid-back, friendly. The stamps they give you are black light, and I always thought that was a cool idea. The stamp doesn't show onstage at all, and the way they check the stamp is pretty neat. It just feels different from other competitions- was always one of my favorites in high school. I believe there is also a karaoke room??
Another thing I've always loved about Benton was the Best Performer Award. There is a judge who sits there all day and picks one performer from each group as the best. It's just a neat thing for the kids. Also they have fun captions like Most Creative Show and Best Song in a Show.
Van Horne is a pretty secluded little town. If you are wanting food, but not wanting concession food you'll either have to drive to Vinton or Cedar Rapids, so just warning you so you can plan! There's also a gas station in Van Horne which has a little grille inside. It can get kinda backed up around lunch time.
That's pretty much all you need to know, I think. I'm super excited for this competition and have been all year!
P.S. One thing I forgot to mention is it ALWAYS SNOWS the weekend of Benton!
During my time in Choralation (2004-2008) we never attended this competition. I know its been around a long time so could anyone tell me a little bit about how the competition is run and what the venue is like?
"Completely Random" Predictions
GC: Waukee (BV, BC, BB)
1RU: Valley
2RU: Iowa City City
3RU: Iowa City West
4RU: CR Washington
5RU: CR Xavier
Edit: Whoops forgot last spot goes to 3A/2A group. Definitely Pella as 5RU.
i know they really appreciate showing emotion and of course everyone appreciates clean choreography but i think they would just appreciate going really really hard and leaving it all out there
Benton Touch Of Class 2014
