After another week of competitive show choir down south, the panel of experts have voted on another edition of southern show choir rankings. This is a weekly poll voted on by five panelists and will change every week until the end of the season. In the spirit of recognizing all the South's best choirs, 4A/3A and X-Large/Large, Single Gender, 2A/Middle Mixed, and 1A/Small Mixed divisions are all ranked. Current rankings are as below:
4A/3A or X-Large/Large Mixed
1) Clinton “Attachè” (5 first-place votes, no change)
2) Homewood “The Network” (NC)
3) Grenada “Visions” (NC)
4) Oak Mountain “Singers” (NC)
5) Brandon “Brio” (NC)
6) Petal “Soundsations” (NC)
7) West Jones “Imagination” (NC)
8) Auburn “Varsity Singers” (NC)
9) ***Briarwood “Radica” (Not ranked)
10) Northwest Rankin “The Ambassadors” (-1)
Receiving Votes: Biloxi "Sound Surge"
Single-Gender
1) Tupelo “Synergy” (5 first-place votes, NC)
2) Homewood “Nexus” (NC)
3) Oak Mountain “The Muses” (+1)
4) Petal “Innovations” (+2)
5) Brandon “Bellas” (-2)
6) Tift County “Ladies Choice” (-1)
7) Purvis “Pizzaz” (NR)
8) Northwest Rankin “The Allure” (-1)
9) Auburn “Elan” (NC)
10) Tift County “Tiftosterone” (-2)
Receiving Votes: Biloxi "Sound Sirens"
2A/Middle Mixed:
1) Homewood “Continuum” (4 first-place votes, NC)
2) Hoover “Paradigm” (1 first-place vote, NC)
3) Northeast Jones “Gold Horizons” (NC)
4) Tift County “8th Street Singing Company” (NC)
5) South Jones “Company” (NC)
Receiving Votes: Vestavia Hills "Singers", Jasper "Phoenix"
1A/Small Mixed:
1) West Marion “New Era” (3 first-place votes, NC)
2) Oxford “Sound” (2 first-place votes, NC)
3) Pass Christian “Luminary” (NR)
4) ***Clinton Christian Academy “Extreme” (NR)
5) Pisgah “Innergy” (-2)
Receiving Votes: Wayne County "Orange Sensations", Chelsea "Out of the Blue", Sylacauga "Signature"
Things Worth Noting in the Rankings:
Divisional Discrepancies (CCA and Briarwood)
Due to Clinton Christian Academy’s placement in a 2A division at a previous competition but continually competing in the 1A division from there on out, their position in the rankings is marked by an asterisk. This is because the panel was conflicted as to whether to treat a program/group with a 2A roster competing in both the 2A and 1A divisions as one or the other. As of now, they are placed in 1A, but some voters did not place them at all in either division due to this grudging confusion. Briarwood has a different situation, as they seem to fall victim to divisional requirement differences between Mississippi and Alabama. They are a Middle Mixed group in Alabama but a 3A group in Mississippi, and our voters decided to place them in the higher division simply due to this discrepancy. Unlike the last one, this one is involuntary and a product of odd circumstances. Again, these placements are marked with a “***” notation.
Small Division Insanity
After a crazy weekend for the 1A/Small Division at the West Jones Invitational, the rankings in the division have quite a jumble in the bottom three spots. Wayne County and Chelsea have fallen out completely, Pisgah has fallen to the fifth spot, and the third and fourth spot are rounded out by Pass Christian and Clinton Christian Academy respectively (check the previous discussion regarding CCA’s odd placement here despite their results).
Single-Gender Movement
Not as crazy as the small division, the Single-Gender rankings did experience a few notable changes. First, Brandon falls from third to fifth and Tift County’s girls group falls from fifth to sixth in the division. On the flip side, Oak Mountain moves up from fourth to third and Petal from sixth to fourth in the division. Also, after a shocking weekend, Purvis enters the rankings for the first time this season and debuts in the seventh-place spot.
Future Matchups
As always, this next weekend in the South offers quite a few intriguing matchups to keep an eye on. Down at Petal, Clinton takes on Grenada and West Jones, meaning that there is a first versus third versus seventh group matchup. Over at Auburn, Homewood takes on Oak Mountain in both the Large-Mixed and Single-Gender divisions, marking a second versus fourth (4A/X-Large) and second versus third (Single-Gender) matchup.
These rankings will be updated every week following a total collection and reflection of the results. Come back after this weekend to see any new potential placements!
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