3 Competitions in 3 States as the South Begins the Southern Show Choir Home Stretch

By Tony Holeman, Southern Contributor

Three uniquely interesting competitions across the three main Southern show choir states (along with a large group of travelers) set us up for another week of Southern show choir! Despite us approaching the end of another season (and one of the craziest in recent memory), it’s time to buckle up once again as we look through and preview the different events going down this Saturday!

Biloxi Gulf Coast Classic

Down on the Mississippi coast, we get a heavyweight bout for the Grand Championship Title between three prominent groups: Grenada, Tupelo, and Sauk Prairie. Grenada is coming off of a strong bounce-back performance at Auburn, where they earned 2RU behind Homewood and Oak Mountain. Tupelo is coming off their second overall Grand Championship of the season over Jenks (OK) and Hastings (MN), with the other being a sweep against Grenada (albeit much earlier in the season). Sauk Prairie is coming off their own first Grand Championship of the season against De Pere. These three will be tightly contested for the top spot, but groups like Northeast Jones and Northwest Rankin could certainly make a run as a wildcard here and challenge for the podium. Northwest Rankin makes an especially interesting case, as their director (Tony Keeler) has just been officially announced as the upcoming director for Jackson Prep next year.

In the 3A tier, Oak Grove and Jackson Academy round out the division with Northeast Jones. While Pike Road stands alone in the 2A division, the 1A competition here looks to be a good one with West Marion and Pass Christian facing off once again to headline the five-group tier. In the single gender tier, Tupelo will be fending off the likes of both Northwest Rankin single gender groups, Purvis, and Sauk Prairie’s treble group, but will be the heavy favorite after remaining undefeated in the single-gender division this year.

Biloxi Gulf Coast Classic Predictions (Five Finalists)

Predictions represent the opinion of this contributor and not of HomeRoom Show Choir.

GC) Tupelo “Synergy” (Sweep)

1RU) Grenada “Visions”

2RU) Sauk Prairie “Executive Session”

3RU) Northwest Rankin “The Ambassadors”

4RU) Northeast Jones “Gold Horizons”

1^st in 4A) Grenada “Visions”

1^st in 3A) Northeast Jones “Gold Horizons”

Only Group in 2A) Pike Road “Prestige”

1^st in 1A) West Marion “New Era”

1^st in Single Gender) Tupelo “Synergy”

Jasper Foothills Show Choir Classic

One state over, we have the Foothills Show Choir Classic. This Alabama competition is a relatively smaller event (with just three groups making finals). Oak Mountain seems to be the group to beat, especially after their strong 1RU placement last weekend at Auburn. With that being said, Briarwood is a very strong contender and has already caught Grenada off-guard this year by winning a Grand Championship, and that is certainly not out of the question here. Debuting phenom Hamilton is also attending and looks to make finals against not only Briarwood and Oak Mountain, but also Oak Mountain’s treble group (who is ranked second in the Southern circuit). Bradley Central fills out the large mixed division with the aforementioned Oak Mountain, Briarwood, and Hamilton. The middle and small mixed tier are much less competitive, as Albertville and Boaz will be the only competing groups in each respective division. Along with Oak Mountain’s treble group, Albertville and Briarwood’s treble groups round out the tier.

Jasper Foothills Show Choir Classic Predictions (Three Finalists)

Predictions represent the opinion of this contributor and not of HomeRoom Show Choir.

GC) Oak Mountain “Singers” (Sweep)

1RU) Briarwood “Radica”

2RU) Oak Mountain “The Muses”

1^st in Large) Oak Mountain “Singers”

Only Group in Middle) Albertville “CenterStage!”

Only Group in Small) Boaz “Elite”

1^st in Single Gender) Oak Mountain “The Muses”

Tift County Peach State Invitational

Rounding out the weekend is an interesting event held over in Georgia, the Peach State Invitational. This competition is quite unique for a couple of reasons: 1) it features a new “Championship Division”, in which any group can opt into despite group size 2) it features seven traditionally small mixed groups in comparison to the one middle mixed (Appling County) and one large mixed group (Opelika). With that being said, this event has a multitude of ways it could turn out due to its odd nature, but Oxford seems to be the favorite here as of now.

Tift County Peach State Invitational Predictions (No Finals)

Predictions represent the opinion of this contributor and not of HomeRoom Show Choir.

GC) Oxford “Sound” (Sweep)

1RU) Appling County “Applause”

2RU) Rome “Grand Finale”

3RU) Opelika “Ovations”

4RU) Chelsea “Out Of The Blue”

1^st in Championship) Rome “Grand Finale”

1^st in Small) Oxford “Sound”

Only Group in Single Gender) North Paulding “EnChorus”

(Lots of) Travelers!

Oh boy, tire sales are sure to be up in the South after this weekend. Firstly, the reigning top Southern group Clinton will be traveling to Glenwood (IL) to compete against the likes of Mt. Zion and Marquette. Brandon and Tarpon Springs will be traveling to Fairfield (OH) to compete against the likes of Zionsville, Millard West, Plainfield, and Loveland. Petal will be traveling to Cosby (VA) to compete against the likes of Hurricane and Matoaca. Lastly, and with the furthest trip, is Prattville traveling to Burbank (CA) to compete against the likes of Oceanside as well as Los Alamitos' and John Burroughs' prep groups. After doing all the math, that’s about 10,744 miles traveled by Southern groups this weekend competing out-of-region. Goodness gracious.

Come right back here after the weekend is over for a dissection of all the results, whether they be chalk or upsets. Good luck to all the groups!