natertater21000

I personally would love to see leander take a break from the minimalist music and heavy reliance on electronics in terms of design. I think the performance quality is definitely there for Leander to fill a show with fresh takes on orchestral and wind band works and combine it with their modern choreo to create a hit. The visual design is top notch as far as I'm concerned. I personally love the music. However, it's been a trend ever since leander switched to minimalist works in 2014 that a music GE judge has been less than floored by them (placed them outside of the top 5, sometimes even out of the top 10)in an important round of contest at the end of the season. I'm not saying I know better or that I don't like leanders current identity, but the numbers are pretty clear. It's in the programs history as well. Leander used to be introduced as the marching wind symphony. Basically, I'd love to see a marriage of these two identities.

I think Marcus could have done it in 2012. If only, if only.

I feel like with both reagan and Vista attending Texas has a strong chance at claiming two titles in a row. When was the last time that happened? Has it ever happened?

My ranking for the top 8 this round would be: 1. Vandy 2. Leander 3. Avon 4. Carmel/Hebron 5. Carmel/Hebron 6. Ctj 7. Mason 8. Woodlands I think 1-3 could go in any order tonight.

I doubt Mason will beat leander in music,and I highly doubt either of them will beat them in visual. That's just my opinion though.

I'm not comparing results,just showing evidence of the effect GE has on a score/ranking compared to performance captions.

I wouldn't be so sure, reagan and leander were 1 and 2 at pre lims of SA. Both placed 7th in music and leander was third in visual. The first and second in GE kept them at those ranks overall. When margins are small GE counts the most because the scores aren't averaged. A tenth in GE is a tenth to the overall score. All this to say the performance margins are plenty small enough for GE make the difference.

Pretty stock technical issues for Leander, we can't seem to escape them. I'm confident they'll be on fire tomorrow though. After watching all of the big dogs I still think leander has the best shot at GE and the best overall design. I also think vandy just won pre lims. All I can say is wow. Avon and Carmel sound great, but I feel like there should be a considerable margin in terms of ensemble music scores (cant speak for individual). The controlled volume vandy, ctj, leander, Hebron, and the woodlands put out is unmatched imo.

It should be noted that even pre recorded audio is performed by a student playing it at the correct time in the show. Not that pressing a certain key that plays a voice track is incredibly difficult, but it is still something the performer must take into consideration. A poorly timed or accidental voice over activation could ruin a shows effect.

I'm biased I know but I think the numbers speak for themselves. I really think leander has an excellent shot at both the podium and the eagle. In both rounds of SA they were second in GE (only.3!!! Behind Reagan in pre lims and equal to vandegrift in finals). This puts leander in a prime position imo. Clearly among the top in design, just slightly behind in performance captions (multiple places but only a few tenths.) They have no doubt been cleaning every tiny detail this week and will continue to do so until the very end. I personally believe that if leander can perform close enough to the level of vandy/hebron musically and Avon visually that the show design will take care of the rest. I could easily see leander winning with something like 3rd in music, 3rd in visual, and 1st in GE. Margins will be razor thin so it's anyone's game. Exciting stuff!

OH, bummer :/

If anyone has the multi cam of cp in finals please post it or dm me.

I'm unsure whether or not the highest and lowest will be thrown out. I doubt the people on the field were on the shadow panel due to UIL never having field judges. I could be wrong though. I honestly didn't even notice them down there while I was on the field.

Due to a recent vote UIL will start having 7 judges instead instead of 5 for state finals. Yesterday there was a "shadow panel" of 7 judges that scored the state contest. Their scores didn't effect the results, they just wanted to test out the change.

I completely disagree with this sentiment that adding a semi finals to SA is somehow playing favorites,or that you would HAVE to add it to the other supers. The other super regionals don't even come close to the size of SA. It's a quality of life improvement for a regional that's grown past what boa and mfa probably expected. It's not about prestige.

Area contests will be held for all classifications every year. Next year 5A area will occur on the same weekend as BOA SA.

Finally a show about I-35!!

That's the number one reason I wish SA had a semi finals. Too many shows deserve a second performance.

I believe guard is now accounted for in the visual score to a small extent (something like 20 out of the 1000?) I'm not too sure though.

The line is becoming more blurry as years progress but it mostly comes down to risk vs reward. Boa incentivises greater risk by rewarding very difficult things performed well over easier things performed at a higher level. On a state year a band may play a brass feature standing completely still while on a BOA year they'll fill it with body and choreography to earn the extra difficulty points for simultaneous responsibility even if the playing suffers slightly. This is only one small example and it's not 100% true all of the time because as more bands strive for success in both mediums we see fewer differences.

New week, new list! Hard to believe we are only a few days away from the SA super regional. It seems to sneak up faster every year. This list will contain a bit more of my own personal bias but it's still a list I think is 100% possible. 1st. (music, visual) Flowermound: The sheer amount of difficult marching and playing in this show is incredible. What's even crazier is how easy they make it look. I'm really pulling for this show to win it all. 2nd. (GE) Ronald Reagan: their marching and especially their playing are nothing to sneeze at but the GE is the real power here. The ballad impact will be remembered for years to come, and I cannot get over that intro. It's just too cool. 3rd. Vandegrift: like I said before I really think they'll take home the bronze. The execution by the end will rival any band, and the design is elegant and engaging. 4th. Leander: I personally view this as their ceiling for this contest. Leander is looking to peak later at nats but I think the changes and cleaning they've been doing behind the scenes for the last three weeks are going to make them turn some heads. 5th Hebron: It's been talked about on other threads and I agree that Hebron is doing everything they can to peak at the right time. The new opener tempo is blazing and once it's clean in just under 3 weeks they'll challenge for the eagle. 6th CTJ: Just to play contrarian to my earlier post, all streaks have to end eventually. Ctj could just as easily land in the top 5 and I'll happily eat crow as I clap along to I just can't wait to be king. However I think if there has ever been a collection of groups to push them out of the top 5 this is it. 7th. The Woodlands. This show has as a really good shot at top half. It's completely different from what's around it and I really enjoy it. 8th. Vista Ridge. Ugh this contest is crazy. I never would expect to see a show like this in 8th but looking at the field it's certainly possible. I really love the visual aesthetic of this show. 9th. Marcus. One word. Clean. Clean, clean, clean. I'm glad they are sticking to what they do best in these transitional years. The shows are still undeniably Marcus, but they are programmed for maximum achievement so well. I think a lot of bands can still learn a thing or two by watching what they do. 10. LD Bell. Pretty much the same thoughts as my last post. Glad they are still around. The show is especially exciting visually. They are the last band on this list that I view as a lock for finals. 11. Cedar Park. Some people may be surprised by this, but by looking back at past results you can see that cedar park actually places better at SA on state years (with one exception in 2013). I think this is due to the extremely high level of cleanliness they achieve by the end in pursuit of state. Clean music and marching is the original GE and I think it'll pay off for CP. 12. Westwood: huge breakout year and I can't wait to hear some christmas music directly following Halloween (just the way it should be). Jokes aside, seeing programs explode into finals for the first time is always my favorite thing to watch so I'm excited. 13. James Bowie: like I said before, their performance at Waco makes it very difficult to see them out of finals here. I personally really enjoy the music book for this show and they are performing it very well. 14. Keller: consistency is what gives Keller this spot for me. It's really hard to imagine their brass line out of finals, but there are multiple bands that may have something to say about that. I think the closer will give Keller the extra push into finals. Really effective musically. There are multiple bands that could challenge for a finals spot. You could swap out any of the final 4 bands with one from the list below and I wouldn't really be able to argue against it. Anything could happen! Bubble: Cedar Ridge Rouse Westlake Lake travis Round Rock

I cannot stop watching that video of flowermound. I think it'll come down to subjective preference for GE against reagan. However, I would not be shocked if flowermound takes visual or music. The marching and playing in that show is phenomenal. The show reminds me of a 1995-2005 drum Corp show in all the best ways.

Dang! So close. That's an incredible accomplishment for the program too, makes ctj probably the most consistent Texas boa band of the past decade.

We're another week closer so here is an ordered top 14 for SA. 1. Reagan (GE, Vis) this will probably go down as the single best Reagan show of the 2010's. 2.Flowermound. Extremely solid, will probably average a close second in most captions. It's my personal favorite show, that closer is simply incredible. 3.Vandegrift. While I'd love to see an LISD south band break through and finally grab a silver medal, I think bronze is where they'll end up. This show is a perfect successor to their beethoven show in 17 and I expect the same level of success. 4. Hebron (music). What else can be said? They play incredibly well and I fully expect them to clean up visually between SA and GN just like in 2015. I'm not sure they'll medal in SA but they will be in the hunt for the eagle at GN in my opinion. 5. Claudia taylor johnson. Okay, this one was really tough. There are four bands I could see in this 5th place spot but if I had to pick one it'd be ctj. Ctj has been in the top 5 at SA since I belive 2012 (any ctj peeps feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) and I just don't see that consistency stopping now. 6 Leander. I really love the show design as usual and the music is probably the most difficult and we'll performed they've ever had. I expect some redesigns from them in the coming weeks all the way up to nats. I really am unsure where they'll end up though. 7 Vista ridge. I half expect them to pass leander and ctj again to snag that fifth spot but I'm not quite sure they'll be clean enough this time. Could easily be higher than this. 8. The Woodlands. This is consistently the hardest band for me to place. Their show is unique and loads of fun. I have them at 8th in SA but would not be shocked to see them do what RR did in 2013. 9. Marcus. They are one of the most consistent performimg bands in existence. I don't expect to see them out of finals anytime soon. 10. LD Bell. I think their St. Louis performance speaks for itself, really strong across the board. I'm glad bell is here to stay once more. 11. Westwood. Huge breakout year for them! Some may be surprised that I have them in before some other programs but I think they are running with the hype of their success. The Sky is the limit! 12. James Bowie. I'm not sure I would have had them in if not for their recent performance at Waco. If they can keep up a high level of improvement they could easily secure a spot. 13. Keller. I have them for sure in finals due to how consistent they've been for the past few years. They sound great and the visual will come with time. 14. Okay so kind of a cop-out but I can't confidently give this spot to a single band yet. Obviously Cedar Ridge is the most likely pick as they have consistent late season success, but it's hard to count out bands on the rise like Rouse. Then there is Cedar Park fighting hard to get back in as well. Too close to call at the moment. Two other small predictions The first 97+ will be recorded at SA finals All 14 bands in finals will break 90

It's interesting how where you watch the contest from can change your opinion greatly. From the 50 just above the press box last year that "artificial" gap between the top 7 and bottom 7 felt completely warranted to me.