I'm from a choir that participated at Nationals this past April. Right now, almost all of the show choir were only started last year for the 1st Show Choir National Championships. Show choir in the Canada uncompare-able to how big it is in US. We have no where near the funds needed - in fact, last year, the winner Wexford "Gleeks" were wearing $2 t-shirts. It's very hard for most schools to fundraise, and almost all of the show choirs are simply after-school clubs that don't have the resources to put on as big as spectacles as the show choirs do in the US. In fact, some of the show choir are student-run and many are actually choreographed by a student or students. But all in all, every show choir that participates works really hard and love it. Slowly, the directors and the schools will gain experience. The reason why Wexford "Gleeks" and Etobicoke "Spash" pretty much blast everyone else out of the water is because they have dedicated performing arts programs that have been well established, and those two schools are pretty much the only two (or at least the biggest) high schools in all of Toronto that have specific performing arts programs that combine singing and dancing, and specifically attract performing arts students to their schools. They have to go through a audition process just to attend the school, but those schools do have "regular" programs for the people that live in the area. But the other show choirs try very hard to do their best. I'm really interested in the show choir culture of the US and how you guys manage to put on such jaw-dropping shows.
I've spent the last hour YouTubing these choirs (primarily the top two). Their vocals are freaking fantastic.
Second place Wexford's show, though very 'Glee-like', had me smiling the whole time. All of there soloists were PERFECT.
First place Etobicoke's show was a little more like the show choir we all know. But the comments on their video's are so depressing. So many people saying they didn't deserve the grand championship and that Wexford was way better than them. Second year of the competition and already so much drama.
Though what I saw wasn't very choreography rich, I can't get over the vocals. Even on the unprofessional videos the vocals sounded perfect. I can't wait to see how show choir in Canada evolves over the next 5-10 years.
It would be interesting to hear how the competition went/shows/how they do it in Canada/etc. Didn't Burbank "In Sync" have a guest performance as well? If anyone has details or stories to share, I'd love to hear about it!
2012 Results
Canada’s Top Show Choir is Etobicoke School of the Arts “Splash” – 95.8
2nd Place – Wexford Collegiate “Wexford Glee” – 93.2
3rd Place – St. Peter CHS “SPSC” – “Synergy” – 81.7
4th Place – Unionville “Synergy” – 78.8
5th Place – St. George “G Major” – 74.8
6th Place – York Mills Collegiate “Cheat Notes” – 73.8
It would be interesting to hear how the competition went/shows/how they do it in Canada/etc. Didn't Burbank "In Sync" have a guest performance as well? If anyone has details or stories to share, I'd love to hear about it!
Show Choir Canada Championships 2012
