Oak Mountain, JASI, and NEJ Classic Mold Big Feb. 7 for Southern Show Choir

By Tony Holeman, Southern contributor

This weekend features the first of many gauntlet competitions in the southern show choir circuit, along with heavy matchups within the other events. There’s debuting groups, underdogs, and many other storylines to follow.

Oak Mountain King of the Mountain Invitational

While every competition is worth looking forward to, there are always a few that seem to excite spectators and spark conversation more than usual every year. This competition is one of them. For starters, there are a grand total of 23 high school groups performing at this event, averaging nearly six groups per division. Given there’s only five finalists, there’s guaranteed heavy competition to take place. The favorites, Homewood, will look to hold off Auburn and others in the large division category. In the middle division, it’s not as clear: West Jones and Tift County look to be the top two contenders, but Vestavia Hills and Homewood are not groups that should be discounted by any means. Factor in Jackson Prep and a few others, and it's an absolute frenzy of a tier.

In the small division, West Marion looks to be an ideal pick, with the category rounded out by Chelsea, Prattville, and more. The single-gender division is more of a repeat from last weekend, with Homewood’s womens group looking to fend off Auburn’s single-gender groups, but also having to worry about ensembles from Tift County and Enterprise. This event is one of the many this weekend that marks the first finals of the year, so be sure not to tune out of this event once the preliminary awards are announced, as things could get real crazy real fast.

Oak Mountain King of the Mountain Invitational Predictions (Five finalists)

Predictions represent the opinion of this contributor and not of HomeRoom Show Choir.

GC) Homewood “The Network” (BV/BC/Show Design)

1RU) Auburn “Varsity Singers”

2RU) Madison Central “Reveille”

3RU) Homewood “Nexus”

4RU) Spain Park “Rhapsody In Blue”

1^st in Large) Homewood “The Network”

1^st in Middle) Tift County “8^th Street Singing Company”

1^st in Small) West Marion “New Era”

1^st in Single-Gender) Homewood “Nexus”

Jackson Academy Show Choir Invitational

While Oak Mountain may be considered the competition of the weekend, make no mistake that many eyes will be on this event for a number of reasons. For starters, there is what seems to be a Tupelo vs. Grenada headline bout for the top spot. Grenada is coming off a hot streak over these last few years, and a strong and beloved Tupelo is looking to claim that first Grand Championship title as a single-gender group (something they have gotten very close to doing at this event nearly every year). Given that these groups will perform twice, it’s going be intense. That's not even talking about the extremely underrated 3A division at this competition. Hoover, Northwest Rankin, Biloxi, and Oak Grove offer no clear favorite, as Hoover has already claimed a Grand Championship this season, Northwest Rankin will be debuting their competition show, and the combination of Biloxi and Oak Grove offer tight competition to round out the tier. The 1A division will feature a direct matchup between Clinton Christian Academy and Morton, both of whom are debuting their shows this weekend. In the Single-Gender category, Tupelo emerges as a clear favorite to battle groups from Northwest Rankin, Pearl River Central, and both single-gender groups from Biloxi. The 4A division (Grenada) and 2A division (Pearl River Central) will be non-competitive.

Jackson Academy Show Choir Invitational Predictions (Five finalists)

Predictions represent the opinion of this contributor and not of HomeRoom Show Choir.

GC) Grenada “Visions” (BC/Show Design)

1RU) Tupelo “Synergy” (BV)

2RU) Hoover “Paradigm”

3RU) Northwest Rankin “The Ambassadors”

4RU) Biloxi “Sound Surge”

Only Group in 4A) Grenada “Visions”

1^st in 3A) Hoover “Paradigm”

Only Group in 2A) Pearl River Central “Central Attraction”

1^st in 1A) Clinton Christian Academy “Extreme”

1^st in Single Gender) Tupelo “Synergy”

Northeast Jones Classic

While upsets are always a possibility, this event looks to be one of clear-cut favorites. Brandon enters as 4A favorites over Opelika, South Jones as 2A favorites over Sumrall, and Oxford Sound as 1A favorites over Columbia Academy and Wayne County. Brandon Bellas will be competing in a non-competitive single-gender division. As there doesn’t seem to be much mix-up within the divisions themselves, this competition does offer an opportunity similar to last weekend. While Oxford may not have much ground to stand on against Brandon, South Jones and Bellas offer Oxford realistic groups to target and try place ahead of. Don’t be surprised is something similar to their result at Tallassee occurs at this competition.

Northeast Jones Classic Predictions (Five finalists)

Predictions represent the opinion of this contributor and not of HomeRoom Show Choir. 

GC) Brandon “Brio” (BV/BC/Show Design)

1RU) South Jones “Company”

2RU) Oxford “Sound”

3RU) Brandon “Bellas”

4RU) Sumrall “Legacy”

1^st in 4A) Brandon “Brio”

1^st in 2A) South Jones “Company”

1^st in 1A) Oxford “Sound”

Only Group in Single Gender) Brandon “Bellas”

With 15 groups advancing to finals rounds this weekend, there will be a lot to talk about after the curtain falls. Come back early next week to get all the juice on this weekend's events.