Indiana Feb. 3rd Preview

Fishers Electrum performs at Brownsburg (Fishers Choirs)

While several Indianapolis groups began their competition seasons last week at the Ball State Mid-America Show Choir championships, this will be the opening weekend for many other groups and competitions in the Indianapolis metro. This week, we will see the competition debut of two of the Power Five following their preview shows last week. With so many competitions this week, we will begin to see storylines and get our first taste of what this season will bring us. While this week may be a taster before we get our first big showdown next week at Pike, there is still quite a bit to look forward to this week in one of the most competitive tier-one circuits in the country. Let’s break it down:

Fishers Silver Spotlight Invitational

Large Mixed- Center Grove "Sound System", Lawrence North "Legacy", Noblesville "NHS Singers"

Large Single Gender- Noblesville "Sensation", Lawrence North "Bella Bravada", Franklin Community "Sensations", Center Grove "Debtones", Noblesville "New Dimensions"

Small Mixed- BEAT "Amplitude", Franklin Community "Heritage Singers", Center Grove "Surround Sound", Pendelton "Pendletones"

Small Single-Gender- Center Grove "Accents", Anderson "Adoration Sound", Pendleton "Emerald Suites"

Middle School- Noblesville East "Vocal Revolution", Riverside "Golden Harmony", BEAT "Syncopation"

Fishers will serve as an interesting taste of several top groups going into the long season. Center Grove (CG) Sound System will look to start the season strong, where they anticipate a year of being toward the top of the field once again. They won four out of their six competitions last season, only being outranked by Franklin Central and Carmel, the other two members of the Big Three. In this competition, they will be challenged by a strong Noblesville NHS Singers group that’s looking their best in several years, winning at Ball State and earning Best Vocals at Beavercreek so far this season. The Single-Gender division is a larger field with the CG Debtones being the likely favorite. Behind the Debtones, the field appears wide open for the second-place spot. The story that piques the most interest in that category is the debut of Fishers Sound. The group has quickly surged to the top of the Indianapolis circuit, but will a director change impact their rise to the top? At the small mixed level, there will be three mixed groups along with CG’s prep group, Surround Sound, who won for the first time in seven years last season. The Pendleton Heights Pendletones is the favorite here, getting several grand championships last season and placing fifth at small state. The small division will see a fierce battle between some of the best small single-gender groups in the state, Pendleton Heights Emerald Suites and the Center Grove Accents, for the title. Last season, the CG Accents won this matchup at Franklin Central, getting both captions on their way to an undefeated season. With this competition being a one and done, anything can happen though. This season has been crazy, but here are staff predictions for Fishers:

Large Mixed

GC: CG Sound System (BC/BV) 

1RU: NHS Singers 

2RU: Lawrence North Legacy

Large Single-Gender

GC: CG Debtones (BC/BV)

1RU: Noblesville Sensation 

2RU: Franklin Community Sensations

3RU: Noblesville New Dimensions 

4RU: Lawrence North Bellas 

Small Mixed

GC: Pendleton Heights Pendletones (BV/BC)

1RU: Franklin Community Heritage Singers 

2RU: Center Grove Surround Sound

3RU: BEAT Amplitude 

Small Single-Gender

GC: CG Accents (BC) 

1RU: Pendleton Heights Emerald Suites (BV)

2RU: Anderson Prep Adoration Sound

Decatur Central ShowDown

Franklin Central Performs at Brownsburg (Franklin Central Choirs)

Large Mixed- Lawrence Central "Central Sound", Franklin Central "FC Singers", Avon "Accents"

Large Single-Gender- Franklin Central "High Voltage", Lawrence Central "Sweets", Avon "Attraction"

Small Mixed- Cathedral "Adrenaline Rush", Beech Grove "Jubilaires", Greenfield-Central "Legacy", Monrovia "Shooting Stars", Roncalli "Royal Rhapsody"

Small Single-Gender- Cathedral "Irish Adrenaline", Beech Grove "Elan & Co"

While on paper, this doesn’t seem to be a groundbreaking competition, the case could be made that this has one of the most interesting storylines of the young Large Mixed season. While Avon had a strong showing at state last season, they placed second behind Franklin Central (FC). Since then, FC has changed their style of show, opting for a more story-based show while Avon stuck with their tradidtional style. In a two-group final, the judges will be hard-pressed to not directly compare everything about these two groups. With just two finalists in the single-gender division, this will surely be an interesting one to watch. High Voltage will play near the top this year, and if Accents can make them sweat, that will be work well done. Another interesting storyline will be in Small Mixed, where Roncalli is looking to rebound after a blemish at state on what was a fantastic season in 2023. If they can win convincingly, they will prove they are the leader in the Small Mixed fight this season. As with any competition with a member of the Big Three, the target will clearly be on their back. Will FC open with a win on the way down to the challenging Indy gauntlet? In a unique competition format, there will only be two finalists in each division, so here is who staff will be in those head-to-head matchups.

Large Mixed

GC: Franklin Central F.C. Singers (BV/BC)

1RU: Avon Accents

Large Single-Gender 

GC: Franklin Central High Voltage (BV/BC)

1RU: Avon Attraction

Small Mixed

GC: Roncalli Royal Rhapsody (BC/BV)

1RU: Cathedral Adrenaline Rush

Edgewood Contest of Champions

Edgewood will be a good barometer of where Indianapolis sits compared to its nearby competitors as groups from Ohio, northern Indiana, and central Indiana will face off. In the mixed division, Plainfield looks to rebound after a tough loss at Ball State, where they won the Best Vocals caption but fell by just 0.9 points to Noblesville. However, standing in their way is the defending champion of this competition, Beavercreek, who is also looking to rebound after a disappointing fourth place at Findlay last week. Not to be outdone, Northrop Charisma has made some major changes in the offseason, bringing in the whole Jordan show choir family to revamp their choreography. That could pay dividends as each of the Jordans has their style and the combination between those styles could make for an interesting show. The Single-Gender division will likely fall the way of Plainfield Femmes Fatales following a sweep of Carroll last week. It will be tough to take that 68-member choir down.  With 14 mixed groups and 8 womens groups, it will be a dogfight for those spots not taken by powerhouses. Just making it into finals will be impressive for some of these smaller groups that have just 20 to 30 members and are challenging Plainfield’s massive 70-member group. Here is how staff thinks finals will shake down:

Mixed  

GC: Plainfield Belles et Beaux 

1RU: Northrop Charisma 

2RU: Beavercreek Friends

3RU: Whiteland Rhythm Masters

4RU: Columbus North Vocal Pointe

5RU: Austin Dimensions

Single-Gender

GC: Plainfield Femmes Fatales

1RU: Northrop Allure 

2RU: Whiteland Expressions

3RU: Pike Mystiques

4RU: Norwell Knight Stars

No matter how the results shake out, it will still be a great weekend of show choir in Indiana!

Nathan Ensley also contributed to this preview.