Comps of the Week: 3/7/26

By William Soquet, Editor-in-Chief

Many Western groups gather at Burbank, the country travels to Fairfield, three states clash at Sioux City East, and Texas sends off its season at Southlake Carroll.

Burbank Blast!

The Lineup (groups from California unless noted)

Advanced Mixed 1: Horizon (AZ) “Step on Stage”, John Burroughs “Powerhouse”, John F. Kennedy “Executive Order”, Los Alamitos “Sound FX”

Advanced Mixed 2: Bonita Vista “The Music Machine”, Cypress “High Voltage”, Glendora “Royal Stewarts”, Hart “Collective Harts”, La Cueva (NM) “Underground”

Intermediate Mixed: Golden Valley “Melodies of Gold”, Granda Hills “G-Notes”, John Burroughs “Sound Waves”, Los Alamitos “Connexion”, Oceanside “Soundwaves”, Prattville (AL) “Spotlight”

Advanced Womens 1: John Burroughs “Sound Sensations”, John F. Kennedy “First Ladies”, Los Alamitos “Soundtrax”

Advanced Womens 2: Los Alamitos “Axcent”

Intermediate Womens: Bonita Vista “Sound Unlimited”, Cypress “Pink Thunder”, Horizon (AZ) “Show Divas”, John Burroughs “Decibelles”, Los Alamitos “Axcent”, Saugus “Blue Heat”

Mens: Hart “Unleashed”, John Burroughs “Men@Work”, John F. Kennedy “Secret Service”, Los Alamitos “Xtreme”

While Esperanza provided some flashes of action for the California circuit last weekend, most everyone gets going at Blast. Burbank will feature the second top-shelf advanced battle of the season. Los Alamitos narrowly lost to Burbank last weekend, and here they will face John Burroughs. No matter who wins, the battle will almost certainly be razor-thin. The contest for third in the top division will also be intriguing, with a growing Horizon program taking on a Kennedy outfit under new vocal leadership. In the second advanced division, Cypress and Glendora see each other for the third consecutive weekend. High Voltage has won the first two encounters, but Royal Stewarts have only been one spot behind them each time, leaving the door open to reverse the tides. La Cueva, New Mexico’s only competitive program, makes their yearly California appearance as well. Intermediate mixed features Burroughs and Los Al against a horde of competitors, including early-season division #4 Oceanside and the furthest traveler of them all, Prattville Spotlight from the Montgomery, Alabama area. Novice divisions competed on Friday; Esperanza took a music/show win in mixed over JFK Ambassadors and Eisenhower.

Fairfield Crystal Classic

The Lineup (groups from Ohio unless noted)

Large Mixed: Brandon (MS) “Brio”, Loveland “By Request”, Millard West (NE) “Swing Cats”, Millard West (NE) “West in the Groove”, Plainfield (IN) “Belles et Beaux”, Zionsville (IN) “Royalaires”

Medium Mixed: Ross “Legacy”, Teays Valley “Prominent Rendition”

Small Mixed: Buckeye Valley “Visions”, Middletown “Purple Pizzazz”, Norwood “The Silhouettes”, Tarpon Springs (FL) “Syndicated Sound”, West Jessamine (KY) “Dually Noted”, Whitehall-Yearling “Music Unlimited”

Large Womens: Brandon (MS) “Bellas”, Loveland “Allure”, Millard West (NE) “Uptown”, Plainfield (IN) “Femmes Fatales”, Zionsville (IN) “Choralaires”

Small Womens: West Jessamine (KY) “Fortissima”

Fairfield has collected an incredibly diverse lineup for Crystal Classic this year, a competition that will span two different venues. In large mixed, Zionsville is the only group coming off a win, having done so at Sullivan. Brandon and Millard West were both second their last time out, and Loveland and Plainfield were both fourth their last time out. It is almost impossible to run any kind of regional transitive property on this division, but it is simply worth noting that this field is a lot better than the five grand championships this season that it has on paper. Medium mixed groups are eligible for large mixed finals, but Ross will have a lot of work to do to crack the five-finalist lineup in the arena. Large womens will take three finalists. Behind the Choralaires, it’s a bit of an open field, although Allure is a strong pick to make finals as well. The third spot will be up to whoever wants it the most. Small mixed and womens will combine into five finalists. Among the contenders is Tarpon Springs, who is rounding out their season in Ohio after taking second in a six-group small mixed division at Petal two weeks ago.

Sioux City East Sing All About It!

The Lineup (groups from Iowa unless noted)

Mixed: Aberdeen Central (SD) “Eagle Express”, Bishop Heelan “Harmonia Mundi”, Elkhorn North (NE) “adrENaline”, Grand Island (NE) “Ultimate Image”, Gretna East (NE) “Equinox”, Mitchell (SD) “Friend de Coup”, Sioux Center “Satisfaction”, Sioux Falls Roosevelt (SD) “Executive Suite”

Womens: Aberdeen Central (SD) “Special Request”, Bishop Heelan “Magnifique”, Grand Island (NE) “Sweet Revelation”, Sioux Falls Roosevelt (SD) “Capitol Harmony”

Mens: Bishop Heelan “moMANtum”

Prep: Elkhorn North (NE) “Encore”, Grand Island (NE) “Future Image”

Expanded Coverage: Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota Groups Duel at Sioux City East

There’s something special when a competition with eight groups in the mixed division has no immediate write-offs for finals. Two Iowa ensembles, three Nebraska groups and three South Dakota outfits will do battle in prelims just to make it to the finals round, and then do it again in finals. Gretna East has not dropped below second this season and is looking for their third win of 2026 to close the year. Elkhorn North and Mitchell are both coming off thirds last weekend; these two groups will likely comprise the battle for second. Sioux Center is another group coming off a third last weekend; Satisfaction is having a banner season and won at Spirit Lake in February, beating Bishop Heelan. Heelan is only halfway through its competition season, with two thirds and a win to its name. Sioux Falls Roosevelt and Aberdeen Central have both been up and down in the midst of a typically wild South Dakota season, but Executive Suite seems to be peaking when the time is right, placing second at its last two competitions. Grand Island has run a bit of a gauntlet schedule this year but made finals at a tough Omaha South competition, meaning UI has the potential to do so here as well.

Wildcard: Southlake Carroll Showdown

The Lineup (groups from Texas unless noted)

Large Mixed: Arlington “Choraliers”, Broken Arrow (OK) “Tiger Rhythm”, Burleson “Breakaway”, Fort Worth Southwest “Southwest Effect”, Fossil Ridge “Pantheon”, Keller “Blue Lights”, Keller Central “Voices of Central”, L.D. Bell “The Bell System”, Legacy “Silver Elite”

Small Mixed: Burleson Centennial “Shades of Blue”

Womens: Broken Arrow (OK) “Tiger Mystique”, Fort Worth Southwest “Sound Machine”, Keller “Lumina”, Keller Central “Voltage”

Prep: Eagle Mountain “IGKNIGHT”, Seguin “Vocal Motion”

Serving as the season finale for Texas this year, Southlake has once again assembled an all-star cast of groups following its 2025 debut. The headliner is Broken Arrow, who won this competition a year ago and has reeled off three consecutive wins after taking second to begin the season. Behind them, six Texas groups who have either made finals or placed this season will be gunning for all they can get. Keller and Keller Central will meet for the third time this season. Both Blue Lights and VOC have come out ahead earlier in 2026 – the question is ‘which way will the pendulum swing this time?’ Fossil Ridge and LD Bell have both found success at multiple competitions so far this season and should factor into the discussion as well. Legacy and Arlington were fifth and sixth at Keller Central a week ago, and both will be hungry for another finals berth. The winner of small mixed is guaranteed a finals berth, and as Burleson Centennial is the only group in that division, Shades of Blue will advance to the evening round as well.

Comps of the Week Recap will dissect all of the biggest storylines from these competitions, coming early next week to the blog.