cheesecurd21

Unfortunately the judges were swapped last minute resulting in some strange variances, more so than would have likely happened if the original judges were kept. Not saying the judges were “bad”, just having to pick a backup judge will result in less accurate results

The sub caption they got 18th in is weighted more heavily

Not about improvement, but the fact that the judge tape contained no negative comments at ALL and received 18th place is insanity.

The information i’ve received is rooted directly from Emerson directors and the head of FISD Fine Arts. Feels pretty credible to me. A large gap makes sense but not in such a similar sub caption from the same judge. While it would be extremely odd getting that disparity from two judges, getting it from the same judge is even odder.

The UIL officials reasoning was “top 10 are already announced, so scores cannot be changed.” This in no way means that the score was correct, just that UIL will not correct it.

Additionally, the judges tape (from the judge that gave the 4 5 and 18) was completely positive, with zero indication of any negative scoring

Hopefully this can clear up some questions about fixing scores. Apologies for word choice, fixing scores would be much more accurate. It was quite a blatant error, and despite FISDs influence UIL officials are in charge at the end of the day

Again, apologies, misunderstanding FISD is very much on the side of trying to have the score checked and fixed, not the ones refusing to investigate. The people in charge of scores (judges/UIL) were the side refusing to check and change scores

Sorry I think you’re misinterpreting me I don’t think this was intentional necessarily, in fact it would be much more likely to be a simple error in clicking a number. Prelims should be accurate, and a large disparity can occur but 4th to 18th just simply doesn’t make sense to me at all. It is so easy to simply enter the wrong number into a computer that it’s extremely likely

The sub caption was weighted more heavily than the others I believe, ensemble? Receiving 4th place in (achievement?) and 5th place in content while receiving 18th in ensemble makes zero sense to me. 4 5 and 12? sure, shows a weakness. 4 5 and 18? shows an error to me I believe when calculated, if Emerson had received a score in that sub caption in the 4-6 range they would have placed seventh in prelims.

No, all scores from the same judge.

Let me be more specific to hopefully clear it up. The percussion judge (yes there is only one percussion judge) gave Emerson a score that placed them in 4th and 5th on 2 subcaptions. On another sub caption, they received a score that placed them in 18th place. 18th place from the same judge that gave top 5 twice. In my eyes without a doubt the most likely solution is a simple tabulation error where a wrong key was entered and didn’t realize (somehow). I just don’t believe they received 18th while getting 4th and 5th from the same judge

Apparently the judge had entered a wrong number (apparently put 18th when the other scores in percussion sub caption were 4th and 5th) and when appealed said something along the lines of “scores are final” and that it wouldn’t be looked in to. FISD director of fine arts was discussing with them about it apparently but it was pretty much a “scores are already down, we won’t change them now” response

The directors appealed, and the people in charge of scores refused to fix it.

That’s exactly what I mean, entering the number wrong

I believe the rain stopped before them right? Maybe during. I remember it not going on long after the first two

Percussion score for Emerson I believe was higher than both. They had a judging error where a judge gave them 18 in one category but 4 and 5 in others. I believe Emerson should’ve been 7th or 8th in prelims if the sub category lined up with the others, as it stuck out among the other scores (consistency) To be clear this is what i’ve heard, I haven’t seen the sheet yet but I guess it will be confirmed when we do

Personally i’m just surprised how Melissa made it over the two. I think Emerson and Liberty were stronger despite the extra challenge

Extremely surprised Emerson and Liberty didn’t make it, guess thats what happens when you go first and in the rain when nobody else does… Also, does anyone have the scoresheet? I haven’t been able to get it but i’ve heard there was some crazy judging errors by some friends of mine

Did anyone see the early groups? Also, I’ve heard that there was a judging swap? Does anyone know information

Just saw vids of runs from Independence and Emerson from their game tonight. Independence was pretty solid but wow watch out for Emerson if they can get around that early start time. Also on a side note I wouldn’t personally call Independence a wall of sound… maybe it was the run but it didn’t particularly stand out to me

All jokes aside, personally I think Emerson and WG are being super underrated right now. I think both will do much better than people expect if the run is there at the right time (Emerson in particular)

in 2024 they were two people away from the 6A cutoff, being the largest 5A school. They’re almost guaranteed to get moved up

Early run time can make a one spot difference but (hopefully) shouldn’t be a major difference. I think either Liberty or Emerson will preform very well, and the other will suffer. With Mckinney North leaving and Celina joining (with possibly Richland and Panther Creek) I think it will get close and wish to see 25 bands but is there anyone else that could join? Even so, Reedy may leave and Memorial may drop down

Gonna throw out some crazy predictions and go through all of prelims cause I feel like this year will be super unpredictable and anything could happen (so don’t take me too seriously but i’m not just guessing) 1. Lone Star (Obviously Wakeland could take 1st but i’ve got a good feeling about Lone Star) 2. Wakeland (Duh top 2) 3. Lebanon Trail (Showed up early and proved they want it, don’t think any of the other bands below can beat them) 4. Walnut Grove (I haven’t seen anyone put them this high but despite show design they’re performing at a very high level and some of their individual captions reflect that despite placements) 5. Argyle (Same as WG regarding show design, but they’re still very good) 6. Reedy (So much improvement, clean, nice sound. See them bouncing back from last year. Could overtake Argyle and WG but i’m feeling them in 6th even though they had some great results early season) 7. Emerson (Same as Reedy. Insane progress in whatever amount of time it was since MMI. Could actually see them getting higher if the improvement doesn’t stop and the performance quality increases) 8. Mckinney North (I know, very hot take. Not to say anything bad about the program but I just don’t feel it this year for them. A ton of other bands in this area showed they can beat them) 9. Independence (Also same as Reedy and Emerson. Not overrated but I think they’ll land around this range. 8th could happen, but 10th could also. Love the brass) 10. Liberty (Very solid. Again, not overhyped, but I see a solid 10th from them, don’t see a world where they are out of finals but also don’t really see them above these other schools) 11. Heritage (Good band but in a very tough area. I can’t see them above Liberty and that means I see them just outside of finals. Also not sure how they got a 2 at UIL) 12. Melissa (Love the music, visually somewhat weak and lacking in difficulty but I love their sound and ballad soloists) 13. Lovejoy (Small but nice show) 14. Memorial (Nice program, director change affected them I think) 15. Centennial (Haven’t seen them since showcase but this feels somewhat right for them) 16. Anna (Like lovejoy, small, very unique design but not bad at all) 17. Frisco 18. Denison 19. Sherman 20. Ryan 21. Denton If you disagree that’s fine but i’m somewhat going wild here. Not entirely though, as I do feel like this could really happen. Obviously the most flexibility is in that 4-8 range, where honestly any of those bands could take the 4th spot with the right mindset going into this last week. And like everyone is saying, deeply sorry for the people at TC unfairly affected by this. Would’ve had them in that back half of finals range, excited to see them next year!