Back On Track: A Southern Show Choir Recap (Jan. 31)
- Tony Holeman
- 20 hours ago
- 3 min read
By Tony Holeman, Southern Contributor
With a winter storm pushing forward with every second, the 2026 Southern show choir season started off with a rather unwarm welcome. Despite the harsh conditions, two of the three competitions were able to proceed (albeit with a couple of schedule changes). We’ll go over how weather impacted the schedule and who won the showdowns that remained.
Mississippi Show Choir Contest
The lone competition in Mississippi this weekend featured the expected Brandon Grand Championship, but other placements brought more intrigue. For starters, Northeast Jones pulled off what some would consider an upset, defeating West Jones for the 1RU position and also taking Best Show Design from Brandon. Oak Grove followed West Jones and earned 3RU while Brandon’s treble group earned 4RU. Jackson Prep made a statement with a win in the 2A division, while West Marion held off close contenders to win the 1A division (also worth noting that West Marion placed 6th overall at this event and Pass Christian placed 7th overall). Final results are posted below (no finals):
Overall
GC) Brandon “Brio” (BV/BC)
1RU) Northeast Jones “Gold Horizons” (Show Design)
2RU) West Jones “Imagination”
3RU) Oak Grove “Center Stage”
4RU) Brandon “Bellas”
Only Group in 4A) Brandon “Brio”
3A Division
GC) Northeast Jones "Gold Horizons"
1RU) West Jones "Imagination"
2RU) Oak Grove "Center Stage"
2A Division
GC) Jackson Prep "Reveillon"
1RU) Pearly River Central "Central Attraction"
2RU) Sumrall "Legacy"
A Division
GC) West Marion "New Era"
1RU) Pass Christian "Luminary"
2RU) Columbia "Premiers"
Single Gender
GC) Brandon "Bellas"
1RU) Purvis "Pizzaz"
2RU) Pearl River Central "Illumination"
Albertville Diamond Classic
Similar to the Mississippi Show Choir Contest, while the favored group at this event won as predicted, there were some noteworthy results from the tiers below worth reviewing. Aside from the Auburn Grand Championship sweep, Hoover started out the season strong with a convincing upset over Homewood’s middle mixed group to claim the Middle division at this event, also beating Vestavia Hills in the process (albeit losing the visuals caption to them). Homewood made up for this in the single-gender division, as their treble group toppled both single-gender groups from Auburn. Boaz rounded out the event by winning their non-competitive division (Rome had to withdraw due to weather conditions). Final results are posted below (no finals):
Large Division
GC) Auburn “Varsity Singers” (BV/BC/Show Design)
1RU) Donelson Christian "Legacy"
Middle Division
GC) Hoover “Paradigm” (BV/Show Design)
1RU) Vestavia Hills "Singers" (BC)
2RU) Homewood "Continuum"
Single Gender
GC) Homewood "Nexus" (BV/BC)
1RU) Auburn "Èlan"
2RU) Auburn "Men at Work" (Show Design)
Tallassee River City Classic
Despite this competition falling to just seven competing high-school groups, this event had several interesting storylines to follow. In the preview article last week, I stated that while not expected, it wouldn’t be crazy to see Oxford mess around and punch above their weight class and maybe even win this entire event? Boy did I hit the nail on the head with that one. Well, maybe I was off-center by just a hair. While it was Tift County’s mixed group that walked away with the Grand Championship title, Oxford finished RIGHT on their heels, earning the overall Best Visuals and overall Best Show Design at this event. The rest of this event was rounded out by Tift County’s treble group winning the single-gender division. Final results are posted below (no finals):
GC) Tift County “8th Street Singing Company” (BV)
1RU) Oxford “Sound” (BC/Show Design)
Large Division
GC) Opelika “Ovations”
Middle Division
GC) Tift County “8th Street Singing Company”
1RU) Enterprise "Encores"
Small Division
GC) Oxford “Sound”
1RU) Opelika "Elevations"
Single Gender Division
GC) Tift County “Ladies Choice” (BV/BC/Show Design)
1RU) Enterprise "Esprit"
Looking Forward
With another round of Southern show choir behind us, it’s time to look forward to the third weekend of the season. Here’s a brief look below at some of the upcoming competitions (and featured groups) this next weekend. Thanks for reading and be sure to come back later this week for a preview of each event listed below!
Oak Mountain King of the Mountain Invitational (Birmingham, AL)
- Homewood “The Network”
- Auburn “Varsity Singers”
- Madison Central “Reveille”
- Spain Park “Rhapsody In Blue”
- Tift County “8th Street Singing Company”
- West Jones “Imagination”
- West Marion “New Era”
Jackson Academy Show Choir Invitational (Jackson, MS)
- Grenada “Visions”
- Tupelo “Synergy”
- Northwest Rankin “The Ambassadors”
- Biloxi “Sound Surge”
- Hoover “Paradigm”
Northeast Jones Classic (Laurel, MS)
- Brandon “Brio”
- South Jones “Company”
- Oxford “Sound”