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Love love loved Bentonville. Everything. But especially the visual program.

Bellevue West was fantastic, they're really coming into their own. Will definitely be in the upper half of finals IMO.

Richland was great, very energetic show that they sell really well. Love the Estancia closer. They should be very comfortably in finals.

Blue Springs was awesome, loved the tone of the show. Really well put together.

It has been fixed, haven't been watching for about an hour. Cool!

Anyone else having the same issue I am? Feed is skipping all over the place for me right now, will be live and then skip back a few minutes and then be live and then skip back a few seconds. I THINK Blue Springs South is on my bubble but I can't really tell because of the video quality.

Think 4 finalists will come from today. - Air Academy - O'Fallon Tonwnship - Owasso - Union With a few bubbles that could get in depending on how tomorrow goes: - Grain Valley - Kickapoo Really looking forward to tomorrow, solid first day.

Add Air Academy to my list as well. They push energy for days, very entertaining show.

Standouts thus far: I really enjoyed Owasso personally, very cleanly put together show and they sound very good. Some very interesting guard costuming stuff in the latter half, but their amazing soloists really stole the show. I love the design of O'Fallon Townships, really well put together and just downright fun. Some really great moments, particularly the Fly to Paradise ballad hit which was so well done. Loved the pit stuff going on underneath it, gave that piece we've heard a million times on the field new life. If they can get the performance levels as strong as the show is they will finish strong in Indy. Union. I need to see that show again. But I mean that in a really good way. LOVED the ballad, really chilling. Those light boxes are so cool! We saw something like that from the Colts in DCI this summer, though Union seems to have really found a way to make those things pop because they were VERY clear from up top. Very interesting show for sure.

I don't think Tarpon is going to be unbeatable at Nats, but the list of bands that will be able to do it is very limited. Tarpon's got huge advantages in terms of production value, GE, and visual performance. All it would take is the right show, a really strong music performance, and bands being able to get close in visual. Definitely not saying it will be easy but there are a handful of shows that I saw early on that had huge potential, 3 or 4 come to mind. We shall see!

I think Prosper has the show design for a great finish in San Antonio, maybe not finals but I wouldn't be shocked to see them end up in the teens or twenties somewhere. Regardless of that, they grabbed my attention fully this year with their show, love it. Can't wait to see another more recent video of it.

I think that Claudia Taylor Johnson has the most potential for growth myself, yes they started (for them at least) a bit slow but there is the possibility of them really exploding in November. That show was a huge work in progress the last time I saw it, but in terms of music and Music GE I wouldn't be surprised to see them pop some huge numbers in San Antonio and at nationals. They're the sleeper this year. The one that got kinda written off after a slower start. Those can come back to bite. Leander has a ton of room as well tackling that closer and fleshing the rest out. Ronald Reagan, James Bowie, and Cedar Park are a lot farther ahead in performance and production value/show completion so they'll have more time to perfect but I could see some shake ups in a few weeks.

So now we are implying that the only reason that Flower Mound could possibly do what they did.....is possibly cheating? O.o That MUST be it. Not because they have a show that is tailored perfectly to what the band can achieve, not because if you objectively watch they were way cleaner than anyone else that day (not saying it's gonna stay that way), or any other reason. But because they're rehearsing more, and illegally at that. I'm sure Biskup would really appreciate that sentiment. Honestly it is not about time. It's about how you use it. Texas bands get just as polished as bands out of the state at the top, does that mean they're all cheating too? No, it means that they know how to manage their time effectively. Every now and then every band has that show and year where everything comes together and it's a home run. It's just their turn. Implying that is just absolutely silly.

Alright, I've seen some of most of these shows, my prediction: 1) Broken Arrow - This is not a we're not going to Nationals half baked show, that's all I will say. Have a friend who was at their show yesterday and said they're performing like they want to repeat Nationals with their favorite show of Broken Arrows in a long time. 2) Blue Springs - I've seen theirs as well. I much prefer what I have seen of this one to last years National finals show. A lot more refined and well performed at this point than I was expecting from them. 3) Union - I've heard great things. Haven't seen anything. I loved their show last year, they sounded pretty fantastic and it was VERY gorgeous. 4) Owasso - Haven't seen or heard anything, just know they walked into San Antonio last year and shocked the absolute heck out of me with that Kill Bill show that was probably my favorite of the year. I'm always excited to see them, because when they're on they're ON. 5) Bentonville - Same person who saw Broken Arrow saw them yesterday, and said this show is just a blast from top to bottom. Expect........lots and lots of color. Have seen some short audioless videos of their props in action and woah are they cool. They really impressed me last year in terms of performance, very excited to see the whole show and not just bits and pieces. 6) Richland - Yup. These guys were probably on no ones radar after last year which had to be disappointing. Well, they've gotten two silvers and a gold against some of THE best bands in the state, and I don't expect them to slow down. Fantastic show musically and visually that should score up there in GE, and musically they're incredibly energetic too. How much they refine cleaning wise will only put them higher in my eyes. Regardless of where they place they resurrected that storied program with one of their best shows since their Grand National finals days. Can't wait to see what this band does in the future! 7) Rosemount - No videos, just going off of some scores in which they are very well in the mix with O'Fallon Township and Bentonville. Always place really well and perform really well in St. Louis. 8) O'Fallon Township - I saw some early videos that indicated a very well put together show and them performing very well. They've hung very close to bands like Bentonville and Rosemount, and even beat Marian Catholic at their state championships yesterday. Really liked what I saw early on and it's probably continued. 9) Bellevue West - These guys really stepped onto the scene last year and made a statement. I haven't seen much of anything or I would probably adjust this placement more. Think they'll be comfortably in though. 10) Eden Prairie - Saw some early videos. Great program, placed really well last year. Can and will probably be higher but it's stacked this year! 11) Haltom - I saw some stuff in early October that indicated a much stronger show design than last year. It's hard to place them at this regional, they're usually lower then I anticipate them being. Regardless, I anticipate them making it. 12) Bixby - This is another band that really exploded onto the scene last year with a really fun and well performed show, they placed well into the top 10 in finals. Haven't seen anything this year but they've been scoring well against some of their peers that they will be competing with. Love their announced music for this year...... 13) Air Academy - They look and sound really solid this year, really fun and dark show with TONS of energy. They should have a great weekend. 14) Jenks - They sound fantastic this year, really fun Deck of Cards show. Always do really well at this one so they could definitely be higher. Other Bubble Bands that could find their way in: Blue Springs South, Grain Valley, Kickapoo, Lincoln I think Broken Arrow is a very safe bet for first. 2nd - 4th could be a toss up, and 5th to 9th could end up in any order. After that there will probably be a few miss that I predicted in, and vice versa. Starting last year this one got really crowded, and this year it REALLY exploded in terms of the bands attending. This isn't the Super Regional of even 2 - 3 years ago, a lot higher quality bands a lot more competitive. Should be a fantastic show. Best of luck to all 4 Texas bands attending, sure they'll represent very well.

I don't think saying Hebron or Marcus could or will win state is controversial. I think when it comes down to it those two are the powerhouses. I think we might just have a new member in the club. What impressed me so much about Flower Mound last week was pretty much all performance related. The show is awesome, absolutely, but they've had pretty fantastic shows for a few years now, what is changing is they are now able to really perform those shows at the highest of levels. I think even taking away GE they will still be able to hang because they march and play that effective show SO well. It will be a ton closer in the UIL arena for sure. Marcus has a show tailored to them PERFECTLY and they will sound sublime in a few weeks. Hebron has another technical marvel that will sound amazing too. I fully expect those two to be the ones to beat, as well as Flower Mound. I think some people are mistaking lack of discussion on the other two for people not thinking they have a chance. Which is not the case. I don't think anyone is saying that Flower Mound is going to walk into state, get a 5 ordinal score, and no one will touch them. But, it wasn't their show design and GE doing all the work last week, the proficiency of how they delivered that was what made it special.

Thoughts from someone who was not there, just made some predictions before hand. Richland is continuing to prove last year was definitely a fluke. I had them, Stephen F. Austin, and Lafayette as my top 3 going in. Stephen F. Austin is really holding their own, not sure what happened around 2012 to 2013 but they've really recovered with a really strong 2015 season and they're having another one in 2016. Good for them! Dawson really redeemed themselves after a bit of a shaky start to the season, great finish for them and no surprise seeing them take guard, always a strength for them. Clear Brook started really strong and isn't slowing down at all. They apparantley have a phenomenal percussion program, I need to find a video and check these guys out because Richland is no slouch in that category. Haven't seen anything of Clements, so good on them for the top 5 finish! And good for North Shore as well, not far behind. They sound pretty fantastic in the videos I have heard. Oak Ridge is really powerful, quite enjoyed their show on the Conroe cast, glad to see them having a solid season. Lafayette was a lot lower than I was anticipating, they're a pretty regular Grand National Semifinalist and previous finalist as recently as less than a decade ago. Not too familiar with the Klein Schools. In my mind if Richland could win this one, they would set themselves up for a great week in St. Louis next week.

O'Fallon Township really made a statement by beating Marian Catholic by almost 3 points at their state contest. They'll be one to watch. Richland winning today is a great sign for them, I see them popping some big Effect numbers next week. I've been gradually moving them up my prediction each week. Think they could do very well.

Have been keeping my eye on out of state shows: At the Illinois State Championship O'Fallon Township nearly 3 points Marian Catholic, dethroning Marian Catholics winning the event every year since 2008. O'Fallon Township - 89.15 Marian Catholic - 86.2 Last week in California Vista Murietta scores as close as they ever have to Ayala, 1.4 behind.

I listened to a periscope and those are what was announce.

Richland was like 8th last year right? Good for them!

That's right.

What class was Lafayette? Pretty surprised to not see them up in the top 3s/captions for 4A or 3A. Don't think they're a 2A if I remember correctly.

Lafayette? O.o

I love the idea I've seen thrown around about having it rotate every few years like PASIC does. Still keeps it centralized but with a little variance every now and then.

https://testhostnamechange2561.vbulletin.net/forum/music-for-all-forums/students-chat It has been up for awhile, but MFA didn't update the link on their site and it took forever to find it.