Comps of the Week: 2/14/26

By William Soquet, Editor-in-Chief

St. Valentine’s Day offers the show choir community a chance to fall in love with the art form all over again. Looking for the biggest competition happening this weekend? Check the dedicated Chesterton Trojan Classic preview.

Homewood South Central Classic

The Lineup (groups from Alabama unless noted)

Large Mixed: Auburn “Varsity Singers”, Clinton “Attache” (MS), Jackson Academy “Encore” (MS), Northwest Rankin “The Ambassadors” (MS), Oak Mountain “Singers”, Spain Park “Rhapsody in Blue”

Middle Mixed: Albertville “CenterStage!”, Sumrall “Legacy” (MS)

Small Mixed: Boaz “Elite”, Chelsea “Out of the Blue”, Leeds “Emerald Voices”, Pisgah “Innergy” (MS), Tallassee “Voltage”

Single-Gender: Albertville “CenSations!”, Auburn “Elan”, Auburn “Men at Work”, Northwest Rankin “The Allure” (MS), Oak Mountain “The Muses”

Expanded Coverage: Four Competitions Headline Valentine’s Weekend in the Southern Circuit

The Southern show choir scene revolves around Birmingham for a second weekend in a row this week. After a temporary absence in 2025, Clinton returns to one of their most familiar venues and is the presumptive top dog. They will hit the competition stage for the first time this season, and so will Oak Mountain, who is competing a week after hosting. Spain Park and Auburn, other strong Alabama programs, will both be competing for the third time in 2026, rounding into prime midseason form. A healthy Mississippi contingent across all divisions compliments Clinton. JA is making its competition debut for the season after Northwest Rankin’s comp was cancelled, and NWR itself is coming off a solid third at JASI last weekend behind Tupelo and Grenada. Sumrall is hot off a finals berth at Northeast Jones, and Pisgah will debut for the season as well. A potential finals spoiler here is the Oak Mountain Muses. Muses did not make finals in a loaded 2025 field but did in 2024, and it’s not out of the question that they advance to the evening round here.

Loveland Showfest

The Lineup (groups from Ohio unless noted)

Large Mixed: Beavercreek “Friends”, Daniel Hand “VIBE” (CT), Fairfield “Choraliers”, Hamilton “Prestige”, New Castle “Red Hot Blues” (IN), Marysville “Swingers Unlimited”, Olentangy “Keynotes”

Small Mixed: Milton-Union “Center Stage”, Norwood “The Silhouettes”, South Dearborn “Opening Knight” (IN), West Jessamine “Dually Noted” (KY)

Womens: Fairfield “Pure Elegance”, Marysville “Swingers Select”, New Castle “Dynamiques”, Olentangy “She-Notes”, West Jessamine “Fortissima” (KY)

Expanded Coverage: Medina and Loveland Feature Competitive Lineups as Ohio Moves Into Mid-February

Showfest features many of the same contenders as last year – Fairfield, Olentangy, Beavercreek, Norwood and South Dearborn among them – but swaps Hurricane for Daniel Hand in the “elite out-of-state talent” category and also adds Marysville to the mix. All that makes for a very intriguing day of performances. Marysville took care of business against ETC to secure the win at Twinsburg last weekend, Olentangy took two major captions en route to the win at Marion Harding, and Daniel Hand split captions en route to the win at Shepherd Hill. Only one of these groups will be able to come out on top – who will it be? Fairfield, the defending champion of Showfest, lurks as well. The fifth mixed finals spot may go to either Beavercreek or New Castle; the former was third last weekend at Olentangy and the latter hasn’t competed since Jan. 24. Two womens groups will advance to their own finals; conventional wisdom says this will renew the Swingers Select-Pure Elegance battle that was ever-so-close at Olentangy. However, She-Notes have momentum and can make noise as well.

Waconia Star Power

The Lineup (choirs from Minnesota unless noted)

Mixed: Benton “Celebration Co.” (IA), Bloomington Jefferson “Jefferson Connection”, Bloomington Kennedy “Rhythm in Gold”, Burke “Synergy” (NE), Eau Claire North “Northernaires” (WI), Holmen “Midwest Express” (WI), Iowa City “4^th Avenue Jazz Company” (IA), Millard North “Infinity” (NE), North St. Paul “Northern Lights”, Sparta “Upstage Adrenaline” (WI), St. Francis “Bridge Street Singers”

Prep: Bemidji “Vocalmotive”, Bloomington Jefferson “JIVE”, Millard North “Illumination” (NE), Millard North “Intensity” (NE), Sparta “Rise of Adrenaline” (WI)

After an uncharacteristically small 2025 event, Waconia is back to drawing its usual diverse lineup this year. Four states are represented in the lineup, and seven different mixed ensembles have podium finishes. Bloomington Kennedy will make its first of two Minnesota competition appearances this year after finding much success in Wisconsin. This is Iowa City’s fifth competition of the season, and 4AJC already has two wins on their resume this season. Millard North showed a flash of brilliance with an early-season defeat of ATSC and has also been historically successful at Star Power; Infinity should play a major role in how the final results go down. Bloomington Jefferson and Sparta squared off at Kennedy two weeks ago, with Connection getting the better result. Both will be aiming for more this weekend. The sixth finals spot could go to any number of different groups. Holmen has an incredibly difficult schedule this year but has made finals twice so far. Eau Claire North was on the podium at Altoona, and Benton is coming off a second at Mt. Pleasant. If prep groups are eligible, Millard North Illumination is absolutely worth a look as well.

Wildcard: Urbandale Show Choir Invitational

Mixed: Johnston “Innovation”, Linn-Mar “10^th Street Edition”, Westside “Amazing Technicolor Show Choir” (NE)

Womens: Johnston “Bella Voce”, Linn-Mar “Hi-Style”, Westside “Simply Irresistible” (NE)

Prep: Johnston “Synergy”, Linn-Mar “In Step”, Westside “Warrior Express” (NE)

Not many nine-choir lineups make Comps of the Week, but this isn’t just any nine-choir lineup. A year after hosting a bona fide national competition reminiscent of the old Jamborees, Urbandale sports a smaller lineup this year, although one would be hard-pressed to find a lineup anywhere that has a higher average group quality. Linn-Mar enters as the favorite, having not lost in the post-pandemic era of show choir. Johnston will face 10SE for the first time since this event two years ago. Inno has not outpaced 10^th Street since 2017, but if any group had a shot at doing it, Johnston is probably that choir. That’s not an indictment of Linn-Mar, but a testament to the quality products that Johnston puts on stage. Westside sits in a bit of an odd spot here, as third at this competition is better than first at many other competitions, but it will be a monumental task to place anywhere higher than third. Assuming Urby keeps a six-group finals, the battles between Johnston Synergy, Linn-Mar In Step and Westside Simply Irresistible will also be worth keeping an eye on.

With four exciting lineup, there is bound to be something unexpected that happens on Saturday. Comps of the Week Recap will cover all of the placements early next week.