SousaPain

I make a point to never read these threads until after the competition is over since I think it's just a lot of fun to look back on how perceptions of the different bands have evolved over time. I think that TheJokerOfficial and Flutelife22 deserve special shout-outs because their predictions were pretty much on the money. I think a lot of the projections that didn't have CH making finals, at all, were wishcasting. Thanks so much to Anthony V and PercDad for their commentary on the shows. These were great references for remembering all the performances. It's not easy to do the reviews they did (especially sitting through the rain) and these were an incredible resource. I do have some thoughts about specific shows. The kids put SO much work into the shows and this area is uber-competitive. I do think that there are a couple of band directors in the area that may have put their bands in very difficult spots with their choices of marching drills or music. With regards to the bands that didn't make finals - I thought Joshua's show was memorably good. Strong brass. I was somewhat surprised they didn't make finals, only falling a couple of spots short. I've been trying to put the Cleburne show ("Either...or")out of my mind, but I can't. This felt like a show with A LOT of promise. I loved the mix of Carmina Burana with Mars at the beginning and liked the concept of a show that juxtaposed "classic" marching band with new directions in the medium. Unfortunately, all that good sentiment disappeared midway through the show when the EWI took over. Just to be clear, I don't have an issue with having an EWI solo, especially given the theme of their show. Still putting the EWI front and center on an elevated platform for 4 minutes of your show is...a choice. If I was a member of the band who's grinded along for 5-6 years, it would have bothered me to see an EWI featured so prominently for such a large part of the show. (If it was 45-60 seconds, this wouldn't have been a problem.) This is a strong band that was not served by this stylistic choice. They scored 15th and probably would have had more of a chance with musical choices that highlighted the ensemble more, rather than the EWI. This is nothing against the soloist, but I am baffled that a Band Director made this choice. I think it sabotaged their chances. With regards to the Finalists - I loved Azle's show! I was surprised they finished as low as 9th in prelims. I knew they'd move up during finals, but unfortunately, it's VERY difficult to make a jump from 9th to 5th between prelims and finals. I'm pretty heartbroken for the folks at Grapevine. THREE 6th place finishes in a row at Area is horror movie material. The way this year specifically played out has to be especially disappointing for band members. My guess is this morning Grapevine's directors woke up wishing they had chosen a more challenging marching drill for their band. They were scoring consistently at pre-UIL competitions, but this was a high floor, low ceiling show. Their ensemble performance felt strong (and well balanced) and their brass (according to the score sheet I saw) beat CH at prelims, but their visuals lagged well behind their competitors. The change in UIL scoring this year probably benefited CH to Grapevine's detriment. I felt like Burleson Centennial and Aledo were a class above places 3-5. I also feel like Centennial's show has a bit of a higher ceiling than Aledo's show going into State. The bari sax soloist for Midlothian deserves special props. That guy has some chops and I loved the swagger.

Makes perfect sense to me.

Why are CP's drum majors not on the field for announcements?

How many points are deducted for band members needing music on the field? I'm not liking Baylor's chances of making the finals.

100%

This is a great point I hadn't considered, but goodness it's a bad look.

I've been here all day. Some have stayed. Some haven't. If it's a UIL thing, it needs to be fixed.

Bands leaving in the middle of the following band's performance after taking their pictures is an awful look and needs to stop.

Watched the five top bands. Not going to add any commentary as I think it would probably come across as negative. I'll just say that the judges' order is what I had predicted and can't find much fault with the placement. Will just say that I'm blown away with what Midlothian did this year. That band is fantastic and came a long way this year. (I say this as someone with zero connection to Midlothian.)

This prediction literally made me laugh out loud when I read it.

It's reverse prelims rankings.

Everything depends on the margins. Winning isn't based on captions. It's based on overall scores. Also depends on the weightings of categories. These captions suggest that most of the scores were probably very close between Heritage and Centennial.

Thanks so much for posting.

Do we have results yet?