Illinois Show Choir Poll Rankings: 3/15/24

So the Choral Classic and Showcase of Excellence are over. That's great. But where does everybody shake out after the dust settles?

Varsity Mixed

1. Wheaton Warrenville South "The Classics (3 first-place votes, no change)

2. Wheaton North "Flight" (NC)

3. Mt. Zion "Swingsations" (NC)

4. El Paso-Gridley "Modulations" (NC)

5. Naperville North "Entourage" (NC)

6. Waubonsie Valley "Sound Check" (NC)

7. Manteno "Magic" (NC)

8. Mundelein "Sound" (NC)

9. Glenwood "Titan Fever" (NC)

10. John Hersey "OnStage" (NC)

11. Batavia "Swingsingers" (+1)

12. Peoria "Soundwave" (-1)

Receiving Votes: None.

Whole Lotta Performing, Not a Lotta Change

With deep Illinois contingents at both Wheaton Warrenville South and Quincy this past weekend plus groups going to several out-of-state competitions, this week's large mixed rankings were primed to feature a large shakeup. Except our voters liked what they saw - apparently, out of everyone. Standout performances by Wheaton North (second at Heart of America Nashville) and Naperville North (winners at Quincy) were not enough to shake up the top five of the rankings. In fact, the only real winner of this week's rankings is Batavia, who rose from 12th to 11th. Swingsingers took home a fourth-place finish at the Janesville Craig Spotlight Spectacular in southern Wisconsin, tied for their best placement of the season. Additionally, the voting panel consolidated around the currently-ranked groups, as no group outside the consensus top dozen garnered a single vote.

Single-Gender

1. Wheaton Warrenville South "Esprit" (2 first-place votes, no change)

2. Mt. Zion "Les Femmes" (1 first-place vote, no change)

3. Naperville North "High Heeled Harmony" (+1)

4. El Paso-Gridley "Hi Fidelity" (-1)

5. Mt. Zion "You've Got Male"

Receiving Votes: None.

The Power of One

Mt. Zion Les Femmes were initially not announced as a finalist at the Choral Classic - but after it all went down, they made it count. The group was the bottom finisher of the four finalists in the single-gender division, but took Best Choreography from nationally-renowned womens groups Center Grove, Zionsville and Los Alamitos. That led to Les Femmes earning their first first-place vote of the season, and the first for anyone this year not named Esprit. With Esprit done and Les Femmes still in the thick of their season, could central Illinois crash the party at the top? Immediately behind that, High Heeled Harmony immediately righted a one-week slide to fourth place. Despite only having one other group in division, HHH cleaned house at Quincy and moved back up one spot to a podium position.

Festival Mixed

1. Danville "Delegation" (3 first-place votes, no change)

2. Sullivan "Singers" (NC)

3. Dwight D. Eisenhower "Express" (NC)

4. Unity "Vocal Rush" (+1)

5. Springfield "IN Session" (+1)

6. Herscher "Class Act" (-2)

Receiving Votes: None.

Fusionism

The panelists have the unenviable task right now of comparing resumes from all across the state at all different points throughout the season. Dwight D. Eisenhower is a Chicagoland group that wrapped up their competition season in mid-February. Danville, Sullivan and Herscher are all generally eastern Illinois groups that had wildly different competition seasons this year. Springfield is a central Illinois choir that spent half its season competing in Iowa. The result? A week like this one, where Herscher beats three other choirs in division, places third in festival mixed at Quincy, and drops two spots. Such is life in the Illinois festival division.