It’s the third week of show choir season, and 2024 is already totally unpredictable. At least the results don’t change afterwards (well, most of the time).
Johnston Showzam Final Results
GC: Urbandale “Studio” (BV/BC)
1RU: Waukee Northwest “Eos”
2RU: Prairie “The Ambassadors” (BB)
3RU: Cedar Rapids Kennedy “Happiness, Inc.”
4RU: Norris “Gold”
5RU: Urbandale “Vitality”
The Urbandale/Waukee Northwest matchup lived up to all the hype and then some. Eos took home first place in 4A plus three individual awards during prelims while Studio was second and had no captions announced. In finals, a flip occurred, with Urbandale coming out on top and firmly entrenching them in the upper echelons of the upper echelon of Iowa show choir for this year. In the battle of Cedar Rapids-area schools for third, Prairie bested Kennedy and Jesse Flaherty started this season off with a soloist award after winning two last year. Norris beat Norwalk for the fifth spot in 4A and made finals, followed by Urbandale’s prep group, who transferred into the evening round on the strength of a win in the massive six-group prep division. Johnston, however, may have stolen the show at their home invite, and Innovation will be a major force to be reckoned with all throughout the season.
Millard West Music Lives Final Results
GC: Gretna “Revolution” (BV/BC)
1RU: Westside “Amazing Technicolor Show Choir” (BB)
2RU: Millard North “Infinity”
3RU: Papillion-La Vista South “Titanium”
4RU: Grand Island Northwest “14 Karat Gold”
5RU: Westside “Simply Irresistible”
The Katelyn Wallace effect is real, y’all! After a breakout 2023 season, Gretna has seemingly climbed straight to the top plateau of Nebraska show choir. While it may have been close, it certainly looks convincing, as Revolution took both the vocals and choreography captions. Westside, Millard North and Papio South all seem to be right there as well, stampeding to the second, third and fourth positions. Of course, these placements are not gospel. It’s well-established that the best time to take down a titan (or two) is at the start of the year, and after Westside had performance plans derailed last weekend, it was the first competition for Gretna, Westside and Papio South. Grand Island Northwest comes in at a solid five, and Simply Irresistible extends its streak of seasons with at least one finals appearance to five.
Pleasant Hill Battle of the Best Results
6A/5A
1st: Neosho “Choraleers” (BV)
2nd: Blue Valley “BV Singers” (BC/BB)
3rd: Smith-Cotton “New Score Singers”
4th: Grain Valley “Exclamation!”
4A Winner: Harrisonville “Music Makers”
2A Winner: Carrollton “Ninth Street Singers”
Womens Winner: Neosho “Sugar & Spice”
Pleasant Hill did not have a finals due to weather concerns, which also saw Platte County withdraw its three groups from the competition. Neosho is now two-for-two in 2024, but it didn’t come easy, as Blue Valley picked up its first-ever Best Choreography award. Behind those two were two surprises in Smith-Cotton and Grain Valley. Once a thriving program with three choirs, New Score is now the only group left at the school. A podium finish for them is absolutely a crowning achievement. Grain Valley scored its first placement (outside of covid) since 2017, perhaps signaling a turnaround in Carter Hintz’s sophomore season of directing. In a pair of three-choir lower divisions, Harrisonville turned away Warrensburg and Chillicothe in 4A and Carrollton came out on top over Cole Camp and Sherwood.
UNL Midwest Cup Final Results
GC: Lincoln Southwest “Resonance” (BV/BB)
1RU: Wheaton Warrenville South “The Classics”
2RU: Lincoln East “Express”
3RU: Wheaton Warrenville South “Esprit”
4RU: Millard South “South on Stage”
5RU: Lincoln East “Elegance”
The sky is falling! Or so says Resonance in their Chicken Little-themed show. The national power that Rez had before the pandemic seems to have returned. While they were playing with a home-court advantage, besting a perennial powerhouse like The Classics maintains immense weight and LSW may just be the top show choir in Nebraska right now when all the craziness at Millard West and Burke is taken into account. Lincoln East comes home in third, while Esprit jumps Millard South for fourth. Elegance cleared the rest of the field to take home the sixth finalist spot. In single-A, Platteview claimed the win over Lincoln Northwest and Central City, their first division win since Peru State in 2015. Lincoln Southwest also bested Lincoln East in the prep division to round out undercard competition.
While making predictions may be a fool’s errand at this point in the season, check back with HomeRoom Show Choir each and every week for Comps of the Week!