QUOTE(ambassadorgurl07 @ Jan 14 2008, 02:29 PM) [snapback]411792[/snapback]
I have a strange requst.....I am a member of ambassadors(obviously). But as prairie was waiting for the choir b4 us 2 end in finals, one of the groups that didnt make finals was leaving. I dont know who it was unfortuanately but i believe they were wearing blue shirts. As they walked by there was a boy who quietly said " if you guys dont win i will kill someone". I am hoping maybe this person is a member of this site. I just wanted to be able to personally thank for such inspiration. If anyone knows anything about this person please let me know. The only thing i remember is i think he was of asian descent. THANKS!
It may have been Craig. When we were walking out there was a group waiting in the hall. Were you wearing brown dresses and black suits? If it was us, it may have been Tommy (bananabuddy)
I have a strange requst.....I am a member of ambassadors(obviously). But as prairie was waiting for the choir b4 us 2 end in finals, one of the groups that didnt make finals was leaving. I dont know who it was unfortuanately but i believe they were wearing blue shirts. As they walked by there was a boy who quietly said " if you guys dont win i will kill someone". I am hoping maybe this person is a member of this site. I just wanted to be able to personally thank for such inspiration. If anyone knows anything about this person please let me know. The only thing i remember is i think he was of asian descent. THANKS!
P.S. Thanks so much to everyone at MG you guys were really great. Your competition was very fun! And i really felt like all of the show choirs were tough competition. I believe its best to win when you are preforming against the finest groups there are. I believe that happened at this competition. Congrats to all and good luck further on in the season!
QUOTE(ItsABeautifulDay @ Jan 13 2008, 04:19 PM) [snapback]411642[/snapback]
Oh---I forgot this too--
Best Male Soloist in Solo Comp- Andrew Ott-New London
Best Female Soloist in Solo Comp- ? - Janesville Craig
Best Duet- ?- Milton?
SOLO COMPETITON RESULTS
Best Female Soloist: Kerstina Aldrich singing "I Curse You Mister/I'm Here" from THE COLOR PURPLEBest Male Soloist: Andrew Ott (New London) singing "Someone to Fall Back On" by Jason Robert Brown
Best Duet (out of two duets competing): Tom Zanton and Molly Bliese singing "Come What May" from MOULIN ROUGE
Also, what was with the soloist exhibition times changing eight times in ten minutes. Frustrating from a performer's standpoint.
Hey I am an Ambassadors Member and I jsut wanted to say well done to all I loved like every groups' show. I got to sing along and Dance, and I just had a blast. I had one quick question for everyone. I heard that our show was online somewhere and I was just wondering if any other show choir had seen it. Thanks
Schuyler
So sitting in the gym since 8 am, I saw my fair share of shows yesterday so I figured I'd give my two cents on what I saw, for whatever it's worth.
CR Prairie Focal Point- Had you not be entered in class A I think you might have been a contender for finals. I was extremely impressed with your choreography and sound, and even more impressed that you had such high energy and showmanship at 9:30 in the morning. Seeing your performance made waking up insanely early completely worth it. Congrats on a great day yesterday, and way to represent.
Pizazz- It seems that your group has finally found it's footing after a few shaky years in the wake of your director change. I really commend you guys on taking some creative risks with this year's show, mainly your ballad "Hide and Seek". I have to admit I was shocked when I first realized what you were doing, but you definitely pulled me with a very nice vocal quality and energized diction and dynamics. In addition to the ballad, I really enjoyed "machine". the lyrics and movement complimented each other extremely well, and the song itself was very unique and creative. It's these types of creative risks that really make groups stand out for me, and break up the monotony of the tired old show choir formula for success that I see in so many other shows. Good luck with the rest of your season, and if you believe in the show you guys have the potential to do great the rest of the season!
Class Act- As I was hoping, the talent and showmanship of last year's group carried through to this year's group and yesterday it definitely showed through. Having seen you guys numerous times over the years, I have to say I've never seen your group as poised and prepared as you were yesterday! It seemed as though some of that angst from last year with not getting the chance to compete at Brodhead and some really disappointing and to me undeserved low placings carried through to this year and gave you that extra fuel and determination that could be seen in your performance. You had some really strong vocal moments throughout the show, and with a little work I think the rest of your show can reach the same level of vocal intensity. Favorite number for me was definitely Boogie Wonderland. The energy was contagious!For it only being the beginning of January, I can't even imagine how amazing your show will be by the end of season. Your a very talented group of kids and I wish you the best of luck throughout your season.
Ambassadors- Having never watched your choir live in previous years, I didn't know what to expect from your choir stylistically but it only took me a few seconds to see the creativity and perfection of your choir. Listening to your choir to me seem more like listening to a chamber choir as opposed to a show choir. Your attention to technique, tone quality, blend, and dynamics was...AMAZING. Throughout the entire performance the choir's sound was consistently mature and full, even while executing such difficult choreography! I really have to commend your director for selecting such a diverse list of songs for you to perform. The entire show seemed extremely new and fresh, and the quality and depth of the music was never sacrificed to be more dramatic or showy which often happens in the world of show choir. I thought Elis Comin and Eleanor Rigby were both fun and innovative and really set the tone for the rest of the show in terms of vocal and choreographical precision. Hey Mambo was the perfect closer with such high energy, and amazing choreography (the lifts were mind blowing)! Congrats on another well-deserved victory, and your performance was definitely the highlight of my day!
GCS- Seeing you on the line-up was pretty much the reason why I went yesterday, and the entire day I could not wait for your performance. I thought the song selection was quite sophisticated and original as always, and each allowed you to display your groups vocal talent, which to me along with your character and showmanship is your group's strength. Your ballad was some of the best vocals I heard throughout the entire day, and seemed extremely challenging. I felt their was just that little extra spark of energy and character that was missing in your show yesterday, but having seen your shows for many years I know you have it in you. Personally, I feel like your show is one of those shows that grows on you everytime you watch it! Good Luck, and I know you will continue to be successful the rest of the season.
Monona Grove- Wow...I have to say I was quite impressed by your performance and show this year! The past few years I have to admit I wasn't the biggest fan of your show themes, however I did appreciate your creativity and ability to take risks. This years show seems much more cohesive than prior shows, and each piece transitioned excellent into the next to create a very unique and and entertaining show. By far the highlight of the show for me was "Rain", and I really enjoyed the combination of drumming, chants, and energetic dance! Along with CR Prairie you were my favorite shows of the day! I really hope you do well the rest of the season.
QUOTE(altomngr87 @ Jan 13 2008, 02:41 PM) [snapback]411615[/snapback]
Well first thanks to those who complemented and congrats to Prairie. All I saw of your show was the closer on the television but I LOVED your lifts. Lifts are my weakness.
ANYWAY
I didn't watch anything but prep choirs. I feel like it psyches me out. The good ones scare me and the bad ones make me over confidents. But I completely agree with everyone's grieviences over the scoring. While I loved having second place and having beaten one of the best choirs in the midwest, if not the country, if they had more firsts it seems like they should have won. But, personally, I prefer taking a points system identical to the day round and averaging it out. So I suppose I'll have to see monday. the 1, 2, 2, 3 is right for Jeff and Prairie assuming that it hasn't changed since our director told us on the bus. I must say I think it's kind of crappy that they broke the tie with best band. I feel that if you're going to break a tie with a captions award it should be be vocals or choreo. One judge's opinion shouldn't decide the outcome. I also think that in the event of a tie the awards should be split and compensating awards should be sent out to the rest of the tie....ers? I know one year wsd tied with someone and one group got the medals, the other got the trophy and the opposites were mailed out A.S.A.P.
Oh well, what's done is done. I think it was a really fun competition. I like direction of it. I must say, though, the food nazis at the top of the stairs were a bit of a bummer. I'm just glad C.R. came out on top! Good luck everyone on your seasons.
CR Jefferson and Urbandale tied at Johnston in 2004. this might be what you're thinking of?
Yeah. Believe me when I say that what was done at this competition is done, and no one in La Crosse is bitter about what happened. They were rather pleased with getting third place!
I also agree that a scoring system of some sort should have been used at night, if it wasn't. (I'm not 100% it wasn't) I think we lose the fundamentals of good singing and dancing without a score system. I think some judges will look at a score sheet and go "oh, I never thought about THAT category", and you can rank the "Intonation" from top to bottom. The biggest problem I have with it, is that it becomes a competition against each other show choir, rather than a competition against good choral, and choreographical standards.
The most ideal system for me, would be scoring and then turning each judges scorings into rankings. This, like plain old ranking, controls the competition so one judge can't have more power than another judge points wise, while at the same time making it a competition against standards. Would the outcome have been the same? - Maybe, maybe not.
I also think the tie should have been broke by how the score sheet was weighted. If there was a tie for vocals AND choreography, then understandable, but since they didn't score, they should have gone back to the day round, or the judge's concensous (Jefferson) on best vocals. If that was tied, choreography, and if that was tied, then band. Again, it all goes down to the fundamentals of a good show, singing and dancing. I'm sure the band score (while very important) wasn't weighted more than 25% in the competition.
That said, I am not bitter or "hurt" by what happened this weekend. Jefferson put on a good show, and Prairie was very very powerful at times. Congrats to both of them on fantastic shows!
Well first thanks to those who complemented and congrats to Prairie. All I saw of your show was the closer on the television but I LOVED your lifts. Lifts are my weakness.
ANYWAY
I didn't watch anything but prep choirs. I feel like it psyches me out. The good ones scare me and the bad ones make me over confidents. But I completely agree with everyone's grieviences over the scoring. While I loved having second place and having beaten one of the best choirs in the midwest, if not the country, if they had more firsts it seems like they should have won. But, personally, I prefer taking a points system identical to the day round and averaging it out. So I suppose I'll have to see monday. the 1, 2, 2, 3 is right for Jeff and Prairie assuming that it hasn't changed since our director told us on the bus. I must say I think it's kind of crappy that they broke the tie with best band. I feel that if you're going to break a tie with a captions award it should be be vocals or choreo. One judge's opinion shouldn't decide the outcome. I also think that in the event of a tie the awards should be split and compensating awards should be sent out to the rest of the tie....ers? I know one year wsd tied with someone and one group got the medals, the other got the trophy and the opposites were mailed out A.S.A.P.
Oh well, what's done is done. I think it was a really fun competition. I like direction of it. I must say, though, the food nazis at the top of the stairs were a bit of a bummer. I'm just glad C.R. came out on top! Good luck everyone on your seasons.
Great competition Monona Grove. Overall, it was very well run. Just my thoughts on the finalist groups.
CR Prairie - Wow... You all really did live up to the hype that was created up at Viterbo. Your vocal intensity was something that can not be taught and the passion in the phrasing was unmatched. Congrats to you all and Mike Weaver on the Best Choreo as well.
CR Jeff - A very impressive show from WSD. I was pleasantly surprised to see this group in this high form early in the year. Your tap number was fantastic as always, but it really had a great supporting cast this year from the other songs in the show. Later in the year when this show is even cleaner and more powerful, you will be a definite force to be reckoned with. Keep on keepin' on.
LAX C - Yes, we all know that the ranking system had its flaws. Yes, we all feel your pain, but show choir is what it is...you can't always blame the rankings. You had a very clean show choreographically and vocally as is typical of GCS, but unlike past years, you did not separate yourselves from the rest of the groups by leaps and bounds. Usually when GCS is at Monona Grove, it is everyone else fighting for 2nd place. The door was left open this year, and two other groups took advantage with very formidable shows. Not to take anything away from your finish, and I can almost guarantee this will not put you down, and you will come out firing at the next competition. GCS is still one of the best show choirs out there...but on Saturday, I agreed with the judges...there were 2 better groups at this competition.
EC - Good, consistent vocals. Clean choreography. But to me, it just was another good show. I usually expect Old Abe to come out with a bang at their first comp. and it just didnt' happen for me this year. Great opener, and then energy lacked the rest of the way for me. I think there's a lot of potential, so I hope you can prove that next time I see you.
Milton - Really pleasantly surprised. This group is almost always strong by the end of the year, but has had a hard time breaking into finals early in the year, especially at this competition. One of the best male vocal sections around when at your best. That means, though, that girls really need to hike it up. There were moments of pure vocal brilliance, but inconsistency of blend and not finishing phrases is what I feel brought you down. Choreographically clean, but lacking in the crisp category at times (especially in the 4th number). Personally, I would have put in you in 4th, ahead of Eau Claire.
Logan - Yay Logan! I had no idea what to expect and I liked what I saw. Very clean choreography. Vocals is what was shaky here for me. There were places that had me to the edge of my seat, but once I got there it would be right back down again. If you work on overall projection and vocal power and blend, I think this could be a great year for Class Act.
Great job to everyone there on Saturday. Im very excited for the rest of the year after seeing these high level performances this early in the year. Can't wait to see you all perform again!!
Congrats to all! I didn't get to see nearly as many groups as I would have liked, but I did manage to see Prairie, and you were very very good. And of course, congratulations to all of my La Crosse students - I was very proud of both groups in finals! Can't wait to see Logan again @ Sauk Prairie and then GCS @ Logan.
I am pretty sure those rankings are correct. They assigned point values to each ranking and then added the total I am not sure of those exact values though.
QUOTE(I_Got_Rhythm @ Jan 13 2008, 11:36 AM) [snapback]411535[/snapback]
GCS had rankings of:
1,1,3,4
Prairie and Jeff had:
1,2,2,3
I should just clarify these were direct from a student. I'll see if I can get confirmation, though normally he's sure. He was sure about the two first place votes. We'll see if I can get the other rankings, it should be no problem.
Monona Grove Silver Stage Invitational 2008
