wow, just watched Los Al's finals performance, and instead of me enjoying my break, I am now bawling my eyes out wanting to hug Jonah. Thank you Los Al, I needed this.
I’ve never felt more compelled to share my frustrations with a competition than now. Sound FX’ s performance was, and remains, a masterpiece. Every single person was not only dedicated, but connected to the material of the show. From the first row to the back of the house, the unmistakable electricity of their final performance was unforgettable. As an attendee, I noticed clear improvements (prelims to finals) that I did not necessarily see with other groups, while FX told a story with highs and lows. Now, this is where my grievances lie with Midwest show choir. While FX may not have been the most cookie-cutter mold for perfect dancing, it is quite clear that the emotional dedication was there. Truly, by the end of their set, I was brought to tears by their unwavering commitment to the world of their show. Midwest choirs, I ask you this: Why judge on the surface level aspects of performance, and not how the performance moves you? I think I speak for many of us when I say that Sound FX put on a show that will not soon be forgotten. With that being said, keep your heads up Los Al. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed.
Is up to the judges every single finalist was deserving of first place. Do I feel like CG AND FX were close yes. Is probably half a point like it was last week between fx and PH. Give it a few days and we will have the scores for this comp.
It's unfortunately not a "move you" competition. Sound FX brought tears to my eyes as well. Their show is a testament to what is possible within the realms of show design, story telling, and high concept art. They are breathtaking, masterful performers and I was lucky enough to be in that gym tonight. The thing to note and remember is that objectively, not emotionally, but objectively the judges thought Center Grove sang better than Los Al from a technical standpoint. Enough so to win. There's no shame in losing to Center Grove 2024. Both groups were incredible and there's nothing anyone should be upset about.
I think if the judges were to be asked their favorite show from today's competition, many would say FX. But they thought the best show, was CG. It's about who sings and dances the best overall, on this day, to the judges and not who we had the most fun watching. I had a great time watching both of them tonight.
Well, I would stray away from using the word objectively in a judgement of singing. There was nothing wrong with either groups approach to vocals tonight. CG takes a very traditional choral approach to their vocals, large vibrato and a large sound. Los Al takes an approach that is maybe more based on the stylistic tendencies of their music. The judges were likely split on this but it just leaned towards CG tonight.
One last thought, CG is truly outstanding to see live. I don’t think a stream could ever express the amount of sound that they actually produce in a performance. I wish I could have been there in person to experience that Los Al show - it was a masterpiece of show design.
I think there is a disconnect between the California choirs style and the rest of the country. When we watch the Cali shows, many times they are quite excellent, but a lot of the emotion and story gets lost because when you are seeing it for the first time for 20 minutes, the story is usually very unclear and even though the kids have lots of emotion, it doesn't really ring true. It feels manufactured to the audience. The kids know the "story" and what they are telling because they have been told it and have been working on it for months but that doesn't always translate to people who know nothing about it. Also many times the themes are things that teenagers would have no experience with yet in life so therefor you know the emotion isn't true. Its feels like children trying to be adults to me most times and while I respect it and love it sometimes, it doesn't feel appropriate other times. Also, just on a technical level, the dancing in California groups just isn't as hard or as much as the midwest groups.
That definetly is a factor, but I don’t think you even need to understand the plot of a show to feel the emotion from the performers. There are many story shows that have complicated plots (more common around Iowa/minnesota) that do a great job conveying the emotion to an audience who has never seen it before. Rehearsing the same set for so long can definetly detract a bit from this when performers tend to go on “autopilot”, but I would still much rather watch a story show since they have dynamic emotion going up and down through out the show. Also there was very advanced movement from every group yesterday, but it was very clear at the event that Los Al was doing the hardest choreo and executing the cleanest, I don’t think it’s correct to say it’s easier than Midwest, although they did make it look easy. Center grove and Los Al have the same choreographer, so that’s not really a sound generalization to make.
Well, I would stray away from using the word objectively in a judgement of singing. There was nothing wrong with either groups approach to vocals tonight. CG takes a very traditional choral approach to their vocals, large vibrato and a large sound. Los Al takes an approach that is maybe more based on the stylistic tendencies of their music.
There appears to be much less an emphasis on vocal nuances with Midwestern choirs. Center Grove generates a tremendous amount of volume (really, the only group that might be louder is Powerhouse), but outside of the operatic opening, it was just "loud" or "really loud".
I think there is a disconnect between the California choirs style and the rest of the country.
Don't look now, but many IA choirs are adopting story shows. Pretty soon it won't be just us weirdo California people.
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When we watch the Cali shows, many times they are quite excellent, but a lot of the emotion and story gets lost because when you are seeing it for the first time for 20 minutes, the story is usually very unclear and even though the kids have lots of emotion, it doesn't really ring true.
This is purely subjective, but I'm the complete opposite. I get bored quickly by many/most competition sets that don't have a story, and don't really ever need to watch one again, even a really good one (like CG this year), because after you've seen it once, there is no really need to see it again. The performers are all playing the same "part", so there's nothing new to catch on a rewatch. Compare that to a great Powerhouse/In Sync/ Sound FX set, where every performer is bringing something new and different in their performance. You can always find something new and interesting and illuminating even after watching it twenty times.
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It feels manufactured to the audience. The kids know the "story" and what they are telling because they have been told it and have been working on it for months but that doesn't always translate to people who know nothing about it. Also many times the themes are things that teenagers would have no experience with yet in life so therefor you know the emotion isn't true. Its feels like children trying to be adults to me most times and while I respect it and love it sometimes, it doesn't feel appropriate other times.
This is frankly insulting to teenagers.
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Also, just on a technical level, the dancing in California groups just isn't as hard or as much as the midwest groups.
Could not disagree more. Let's take this competition as an example. CG was very clean (especially if you only focus on the first few rows - it gets a little muddled the farther back you go in the formation), but their choreography pretty standard, and their staging was pretty static. Compared to Los Alamitos, who doesn't have a static moment in their show until the ballad, and whose blocking is incredibly complex and dynamic.
The choreo itself is the difference between, let's say, honors level and AP level coursework. One is really good, but the other is incredibly advanced. There are sequences in the Los Alamitos show that CG would never dream of trying. (I would say that CG's most difficult dance break is about as hard as Los Al's 4th or 5th most difficult dance break). And not only that, the Sound FX choreography is always in service of the story, where even the dancing conveys the emotion and evolution of the story, as opposed to simply synchronized arm and leg movements.
As a teenager myself, I would like to say that I strongly related to the theme of Los Al. Artificial Intelligence taking over and making people lose the ability to feel real emotion is a sad and true reality and is one of the many relatable ideas presented throughout their show. They also explore themes of loss, love, and sacrifice, and wrap up the show with a.beautiful closer dedicated to the truly talented kid playing the lead robot. Talented isn't a word that is big enough to describe this group. After experiencing this piece of art, my life literally changed. It opened my eyes to what show choir could really be. It inspired me. If that show doesn't speak to teenagers then I don't know what does. I feel like people tend to treat show choir like a sport more than a performing art. Which is fair because of the whole "competition" aspect of it and the "Grand Champion" titles. But I just think that maybe people should step back from debating about whose vocal tone and dancing style are preferred by five people, and look at the true art we're putting on stage. What I took away from Los Al was that show choir can be beautiful, deep, rich, and powerful rather than competitive and hateful towards others who don't see the exact same view as you. And no one will ever see the exact same thing that you did, or have your exact opinion. We shouldn't try to put other performances down. Instead, we should celebrate the art we made. It's all just very unfortunate to me that the attitudes of many in this community don't see it like that.
Last night on the Homeroom show choir live stream, One of the kids from Wheaton mentioned that Mitchell “Friend de coup” would be practicing Friday night, is this true? With this crazy competition I can understand why groups might feel they want an extra practice, but where do they plan to do so? I’m just hoping it’s not at the school, that’ll surely cause some fuss! Regardless i’m so disappointed that I won’t be able to make it to this comp!! please keep me posted!!
I’ve been on national trips with groups that have done that. Sometimes the host school has space (not on the stage, just in an empty room), but most likely they will have their hands full getting everything ready. I’ve seen nearby churches used for this purpose, or depending on where the group is staying, a hotel ballroom. Heck, I’ve even seen groups rehearse in an empty parking lot! Sometimes you just have to get creative. With this much pressure on the line, it makes sense to want to tidy up every loose thread and make sure you are presenting the best show you can.
That's incredibly unfortunate. One of the largest gatherings of general show choir enthusiasts of the year (save for SCA), there's a market for more show choir, and it's not available for public consumption
Wheaton Warrenville South Choral Classic 2024
