Four states. Twenty high school groups. One Loveland Showfest. While this competition in the Cincinnati area likely won’t be on the radar of national observers this weekend, groups from across the Great Lakes and Appalachia regions will face off against each other. The field will be wide open, seeing as Marysville (who won Showfest 2022 and 2024 and placed second in 2023) will not be in attendance; the Grand Championship is anyone’s game, and there will be competitive battles in the other divisions as well. Let’s look at them in performance order:
Small Mixed Division
Bradley Central Vocal Motion (TN)
Columbus East Center Stage (IN)
Portsmouth Expressions (OH)
Ravenswood Rave Revue (WV)
South Dearborn Opening Knight (IN)
Ross Legacy (OH)
Norwood The Silhouettes (OH)
Small Mixed contenders from four states will be competing at Loveland. Several of these groups will be beginning their seasons at the Showfest; for instance, Bradley Central Vocal Motion will be making the trip up from Tennessee to open their season here. VM’s last trip to Ohio, in March 2024, saw them take 3rd place behind both Grove City groups at Hamilton, beating groups like Lebanon, Shelbyville, and Norwood; they should definitely be in contention for the Small Mixed title. Also starting their season at Loveland is Columbus East Center Stage, making the trip from Indiana; their 2024 season was a rebuilding season, and they’ll be looking to improve upon that record in 2025. That starts with a strong placement at Loveland before jumping into the melee at Chesterton on February 15. A final group starting their season at Loveland is Ravenswood Rave Revue, coming from West Virginia; in 2024, they placed third in Small Mixed at Loveland and went on to make finals twice later in the season. They’ll definitely be in contention in Small Mixed, so keep an eye out for them.
Other groups will be continuing successful seasons at Loveland. Perhaps the most notable is South Dearborn, who are coming into Showfest with a win at Batesville, a 2nd place finish at Ada, and a divisional title at Beavercreek to their name. They will likely be the group to watch in this division, and they may be the favorites going in. Ross Legacy, a local group from the Cincinnati area, will also be in attendance; they’re currently in their second year as a Small Mixed group, and if their third-place finish at North Royalton is any evidence, they’re settling in quite well. Watch out for Legacy to notch a strong finish here and continue a good season. A final group to watch is Norwood; The Silhouettes finished third in Small Mixed at Marion Harding, and while that field isn’t comparable to Loveland’s, it is very possible that Norwood makes another strong finish here.
Womens Division
ETC Rouge (OH)
Hurricane Heat Wave (WV)
Columbus East Serenade (IN)
Olentangy She-Notes (OH)
Fairfield Pure Elegance (OH)
The womens division features strong groups from three states looking to make their mark this season. A couple of groups in this division are starting their seasons at Loveland; for instance, Fairfield Pure Elegance, long one of the strongest single-gender groups in Ohio, will be beginning their 2025 run at the Showfest. In 2024, PE won Single-Gender at Homestead, split captions with ETC Rouge at Olentangy, beat strong womens’ groups from Carroll, Homewood, and Hurricane, made overall finals twice, and finished 4th in Single-Gender at a tough Show Choir Nationals. All of this is to say that they will undoubtedly be a top contender in this division, and that they are certainly a group to watch. Also starting their season at the Showfest is Columbus East Serenade, who like the mixed group underwent a rebuild in 2024. They’ll be looking to get off on the right foot with a good placement at Loveland.
Showfest will be Hurricane Heat Wave’s second competition of 2025, and it comes at an interesting time for the group. Long dominant in West Virginia, they fell to Winfield’s womens group at Nitro earlier this season, though they still placed third at that competition. They might have a chip on their shoulder from that loss, and with several weeks to fine-tune their Charlie’s Angels themed show, they will likely come out swinging. A group in a similar situation is ETC Rouge, long the dominant womens group in Ohio. Rouge started off with a 2nd place finish (behind ETC’s mixed group) at Jay County, before incurring a time penalty at Marion Harding last weekend. This resulted in them placing 3rd in their division (behind the same Winfield women’s group that beat Heat Wave) and missing out on finals, which must have come as a blow to the long dominant program. At Loveland, Rouge will be looking to show that that one placement doesn’t define them and potentially reclaim their spot at the top of the heap.
The final group competing in this division is the Olentangy She-Notes, who started off slow with a fourth place finish in Single-Gender at Beavercreek before taking second and splitting captions with Loveland at Winfield. Watch out for the She-Notes, as they tend to get better as the season goes on; they’ll definitely be a contender here.
Large Mixed Division
Lebanon Singers (OH)
ETC All Americans (OH)
Hurricane Red Hot (WV)
Hamilton Prestige (OH)
Fairfield Choraliers (OH)
Beavercreek Friends (OH)
Olentangy Keynotes (OH)
Despite only two states being represented, the Large Mixed showdown should be one of the best in Showfest history. Most eyes will likely be on the showdown at the top between ETC and Hurricane. Hurricane comes in on a three competition win streak, with their most recent outing having been at Nitro in January (unless you count their hosting the Red Hot Championship last weekend). They swept that Nitro competition, and the reigning WV State Champions will be looking to continue their dominance at Loveland. Of course, they won’t be uncontested. ETC had a five competition win streak until last weekend, when they fell to Marysville at Marion Harding. While losing the win streak undoubtedly was difficult, they’ll have to move on from that if they want to perform well in this difficult field. If they put their best performance forward here, the sky's the limit for them, so don’t count them out just yet.
Another interesting matchup in the Large Mixed division will be between Beavercreek and Olentangy. The two groups went 1-1 against each other in 2024, with one of their matchups being at Loveland, where the Keynotes beat Friends to take 2nd place, though Friends would later beat Keynotes at Marysville. The rivalry between these two groups, who have in recent years been the middle of the Ohio pack, is undoubtedly intense after these faceoffs, and so this should be a good matchup to watch at Loveland. Both groups have already competed in 2025; Olentangy placed 6th at Beavercreek’s season opening competition before beating Loveland to take 2nd at Winfield, while Beavercreek hosted the Midwest Classic before falling to Carroll at Ball State.
A final group to watch in the Large Mixed division is the Fairfield Choraliers, who will be beginning their 2025 season at Loveland. In 2024, the Choraliers had two podium placements to their name, head to head victories over Winfield, Beavercreek, and Carroll, and a trip to Show Choir Nationals, where they beat Glenwood and Manchester but failed to make finals. Though they aren’t the dominant group that they once were, the Choraliers are still a group to keep an eye on at the Showfest.
Finals
As always, the Loveland Showfest will take five finalists, with all high school groups being eligible. In most years, finals have consisted of the top five groups in Large Mixed, though Single Gender and Small Mixed groups have made it on occasion. Given the strong Large Mixed field, it’s reasonable to expect that the top five groups in that division will be the finalists. Of course, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the top group in the Womens division or Small Mixed makes the cut for finals, given that those divisions do feature strong fields. All of this is to say that the groups at the Showfest will be performing at their best to earn one of those slots, so make sure to tune in, catch some great performances (on the free livestream), and watch it all play out.
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