2022 WGI Discussion Thread (Non-Face-Mask Edition?)

[LeanderMomma]

  On 2/27/2022 at 7:46 AM, Rubisco said:

Flo probably doesn't want to lose the WGI contract. TCGC, on the other hand...

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And therein lies the true issue. IMHO. A prime example of that is that the person streaming the Houston contest for Flo was actually using their iPhone. I’m guessing it was the same at Georgetown. So TCGC is paying Flo to stream a contest and viewers are paying Flo to watch it, but FloSports (which is headquartered in Austin BTW, not Indy) can’t send a decent video team to cover it?  As a paying customer, I’m both extremely baffled and highly frustrated by this!

[Rubisco]

It looks like McKinney was promoted to Scholastic Open. They're still listed in 2nd place in the A class national standings, but they've been moved to Open in the Dayton entries. Congrats to them! Blue Springs was also promoted to Open earlier in the season. That one was a little more obvious to predict at the time, because they were royally clobbering the competition in the skills captions.

WGI Austin could provide some clarity for the top of the A class. The top 2 seeded A class groups, Bridgeland and Friendswood, will be at WGI Austin, along with Westlake, who beat Friendswood at WGI San Antonio. Westlake's show was incomplete at the time, so I look forward to seeing the full production.

For some reason I thought Coppell was going to Austin. Now I'm disappointed they're not. Such a fun show!

[Rubisco]

There's a video of the Tarpon Springs world guard floating around on YouTube. I didn't catch the title, but it's inspired by the graffiti artist Banksy. It looks like they've repurposed the double-decker set pieces from their 2020 Bellboy show to create moveable urban street scenes. In typical Tarpon style, this is a PRODUCTION, and they're pulling out all the stops. Is it too much? That's for you to decide. Also in typical Tarpon style, they're very, very hungry for a medal at Dayton. It's not as cleanly performed as Avon's show, but they've got some really difficult and really exposed work, and some good room for growth. Overall, the show is toss-tastic, maybe sometimes neglecting other skills a little bit. But the overall effect is super impressive. Like, do they ever toss anything other than 6s with some sort of choreography underneath the toss? (They do, I'm exaggerating, but you get the point.) These girls must be lifting weights or something to get the rifles so consistently high.

They got an 82 at a local contest last weekend. They've got their first WGI regional tomorrow. I'll be surprised if they don't narrow the gap between them and the Avon/Carmel/Miamisburg cluster significantly.

[LeanderMomma]

Sounds like there’s really going to be a battle for the top in World Class in Dayton next month!  🤩

[lost]

Great show today so far in Austin! Any surprises out of the SA advancers? It looks like they’re on their website already?

[Rubisco]

I was in and out of the webcast throughout the day. No major surprises in the results. I thought Bridgeland was clearly the best group in round 1 of scholastic A and Friendswood clearly the best in round 2. I actually would have given Bridgeland 1st overall, but Friendswood came out on top by a couple points (performing much later in the contest).

I love Friendswood's set, with the towering curtains and dark blue lake-like circle that doesn't take up the whole floor. I found it strange and alluring how the "main" girl in white was already performing choreography before the floor was even in place. Kind of a mood setter. Some really difficult and above class skills, like when they catch the rifles with the other girls clinging to their backs. (I've seen that in Pride of Cincinnati!) Gorgeous pink flag feature at the end that sort of starts out as a rotating X. Very cool from upstairs. Overall, kind of a different show, which is to their benefit.

Bridgeland's show, called The Way She Looks (I think), really reminded me of SCV's brilliant 2013 WGI show, with the floor that looks like the floorplan of a house + the furniture + the cozy, crackling phonograph with the Sinatra record + the beautiful dresses. It has such a great narrative flow. It really swells. The richness of the orchestration in the music is matched by the rich, layered staging. It is all so very elegant and musical.

Overall, I think most of the groups in the A class could probably have cleaner shows in finals. Lots of solid runs in prelims, but not many especially stellar ones. Westlake (in 2nd place in prelims) was definitely one that I thought probably has a better run in them.

[Rubisco]

Moe and Gene Johnson was a knockout for me. What a delightful show. Did they change the name? I thought it used to be called The King of the World, like the song, but maybe I'm just confused. I still love the globe set with the latitude and longitude lines coming up out of the floor, but really it's the energy of the performers that sells it.

Eastlake, one of my perennial favorites, did a show about nightmares, with a set like a sort of spooky graveyard at night during a full moon. Sweet Dreams + Beyonce + some orchestral stuff. They had the show announcement worked into the soundtrack, but they were still setting up when the music started, which made everything look really confused, with some members dancing while others were setting their flags down. Like, I thought they were going to get a penalty or something. Actually, overall, I was not a big fan of the music design. Too many disparate parts not really linked well together. I think the performers were pretty strong, which is why it disappoints me that the design is a bit of a misfire.

[Rubisco]

The Woodlands is doing a really great job balancing strangeness with general audience appeal this year. I agree with a previous poster that the music design is a bit different, like that middle section is pretty much just a jam session, but it somehow all clicks. I absolutely love the Riders on the Storm section with the cascading keyboards and the domino effect doors. From a staging perspective, it's sublime. I mean, just totally perfect with the music. Other parts of the staging are a little busy, maybe because the performers are not perfectly together yet with all the stuff getting moved around. And I feel like the "we want the world" part can be built up even more with equipment skills. But overall, this was very impressive. Super talented group that should be very excited for Dayton. I actually think they've got a better run in them for finals, too.

[Rubisco]

Some very high scores today at WGI Austin finals. After the Tampa results were posted and Somerset Academy scored over an 89, I thought the Texas guards would be dethroned at the top of the national rankings, but Friendswood and Westlake both said "nope!" and posted scores over 90 (in early March!). Much better runs from both guards in finals. They'll be ranked 1st and 2nd nationally in Scholastic A, for now. Bridgeland fell to a close 5th in Austin finals with a tie for 3rd between Seven Lakes and Pflugerville. I suspected this would happen. I thought Bridgeland had a rougher run than the groups around them and didn't quite communicate that energy and confidence that's so important to any show.

Moe and Gene Johnson scored nearly an 85, which should put them into 2nd place nationally in Scholastic Open for now. None of the other Open guards were close at Austin, but I did really like James E. Taylor's set. They had a truly giant tree and unrolled some very colorful tarps in lines across the floor. The colors really popped. It was an eco-friendly show about saving the planet. A bit too much narration for my taste, I prefer showing over telling, but lots to like besides that.

The Woodlands scored just over an 84, which will put them into 3rd place in the national rankings in Scholastic World below Avon and Carmel. They aren't going to a late season regional this year, so I suspect they'll be overtaken by others in a couple weeks when the power regionals roll around.

Tarpon Springs got just below an 82 this weekend, which is a little surprising for me. I thought they'd get closer to an 85. (You can see one of their 2 performances on YouTube.) Meanwhile, Flanagan very much underperformed compared to their local circuit. They didn't crack a 70 at WGI Tampa, but got a 74 last week in their local circuit. Different 3rds of the box on the score sheet. Moral of the story: local circuits are unreliable predictors of WGI scores. WGI judges are supposed to be more attuned to the national scene than local judges and should give scores that reflect a group's national standing.

Speaking of unreliable local circuits, lots of Indiana groups competed at the same Indiana circuit show yesterday. Avon cracked an 88, Carmel in 2nd with an 85, and Northview over Center Grove for 3rd, both with 80s. At a separate local show in Indiana, Fishers scored an just under an 83, I think.

I know I focus a lot on scholastic guards here, but I absolutely love ORIGINS Open this year. A colorful, stunningly beautiful and powerful show. They scored over an 85 at WGI Austin and will be in 1st place nationally in the Independent Open rankings.

Meanwhile, Diamante cracked a 90 at WGI San Diego and will be ranked in 1st ahead of Pride of Cincinnati in Independent World. Looks like there may be a competition there.

[WoodlandsMom4ever]

We thought Origins Open was amazing!  I know the difficulty level wasn’t as high as their world group, but I liked it better as an overall show.   Such a great day of shows!  Can’t wait for Dayton!
 

 

[LeanderMomma]

What a weekend!  I’m so glad I got to come down for this incredible WGI competition in Leander. I believe Rubisco already said it all in regards to the stand out groups but what an exciting time it is for guards in general in Texas. We are truly starting to see some groups really shine and I can’t wait to see how things go nationally for Texas guards in the future. 

I saw so many great shows yesterday and today that it’s hard to pick favorites, but I definitely had a few. I was really impressed with the SRA guard from Louisiana, loved the Independent guard from Colorado, and was just blown away by so many of the schools represented this weekend. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll literally see hundreds of video clips I posted over the last two days. It was possibly the best WGI Regional I’ve attended!  

On a more personal note, I was truly honored to meet SO many great people this weekend!  I took so many pictures with guard kids that I lost count.  I just felt so loved by so many of y’all out there and I want you all to know how much I appreciated everyone who came up and talked with me throughout the weekend.  The band and guard world is really special!!

 

 

 

[Rubisco]

I forgot to mention the Tulsa WGI Texas groups. Southlake Carroll placed 2nd in finals in Scholastic A (1st in prelims) and Mirage Performance Ensemble (recently promoted to Independent World from Open) scored an 80 and is already hanging around the other IW groups in the state. Congrats to both!

[Rubisco]

WGI will return to Texas in a couple weeks for a 2nd Dallas regional, which is normally called the southwest power regional and features groups from all over the state + out of staters. It will be streamed on Flo along with the 2nd Indianapolis regional (aka mid-east power regional).

Until then, stay safe, and keep up the good work.

[Rubisco]

I was looking for a very specific judge tape on YouTube and of course didn't find it. But I stumbled on this other WGI video. Judge caption managers Beverly Brahan and William Chumley explain the downstairs and upstairs captions, respectively.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=rzMxKNXoUSs

Hopefully it helps clarify some things. For example, I think some people probably equate a big vocabulary with the biggest, flashiest, most difficult tricks, but the truth is that it's really more about the variety, range, and depth of the skills. And only in the Independent World class is difficulty even an explicit point of consideration.

[packwick]

oh yeah, that Tarpon show hits hard. Banksy's "art" is twee, sentimental crap, but those kids have energy. for. DAYS!

i like that TWHS choreographed the last part of their show more than the last time i saw it. that lift is a yass queen moment.

[Rubisco]

I realized I forgot a couple of the Texas medalists in that post in the 1st page of this thread. I've updated it to reflect Identity's gold medal in 2013 in Independent Open and Brehham Independent's bronze medal in Independent A in 2014. Not sure how I missed the latter. "Brenham" is kind of a dead giveaway!

[packwick]

any of you guard enthusiasts catch the Japanese guard recordings on Flo? like, JMBA 5th annual color guard championships, something like that, i don't remember. i was curious and watched all of them yesterday. can't read Japanese, but it seemed like lots of A and Open class guards.

readin' my scribbles, from top of the screen to bottom:

BcP

Soka Gran Esperanza

Showagakuen HS

Meijo Gakuin HS Brass Band Club Queenstar

The Second High School, Tokyo University of Agriculture Marching Band "Emerald Knights"

Kanto Gakuin Marching Band

Kamimuragakuen Junior HS and HS Wind Orchestra

Kaetsu Marching Band Esteam

Hirano Junior HS

those were my standouts. like Japanese marching bands, conservative, kinda similar from guard to guard, not a lot of personality, blah blah blah blah. big empty gym floors just eat up the small ones. some were quite technically proficient however.

[Rubisco]

I was just coming here to talk about that! I didn't watch all of them, but I saw a few. Like you said, the guards are a bit more traditional. (But how did you survive all the pop ballads? Like the Heal the World one? 😆)

WGI actually held an event in Japan in 2018. It was mostly Scholastic Open and Independent Open. Many of your "standouts" were top performers at that event. For example, Meiji Gakuin High School Queenstar won Scholastic and Soka Gran Esperanza won Independent. I'm not sure what WGI has done in Japan since then.

[packwick]

hmmmm... maybe i should have said i started watching all of them.

i liked the Utada Hikaru one. very nostalgic. i'd recognize that thin, warbly voice anywhere...

[Rubisco]

Big day today for winter guard. Flo will be streaming the larger, two-day WGI Dallas and WGI Indianapolis regionals, along with the various TCGC A class championships. If you haven't had a chance to see a group this year and they're not going to Dayton, now might be a good time to catch them. All that's left after this are NTCA and TCGC state championships (non-A for TCGC) and WGI World Championships.

[Rubisco]

Kiski Area was absolutely stellar. I don't mean that as a pun. The show is called The Second Star to the Right, which is the name of the opening song to the Disney Peter Pan animated film. That song doesn't feature in the show (it's all music by The Staves, which I recall from TWHS' world show in 2020), but the visuals are all Peter Pan inspired. Carmel won Scholastic Open with a Peter Pan show many years ago, but I think this show is different enough. The floor is a very purple London night sky with stars (a few of which are stars that turn, like Pride of Cincinnati's Wanderlust show), Big Ben, a floating ship, and a hook. They've got the bedroom doors in the top right with a swirly sky curtain behind it, which one of the performers jumps through at the end. They perform with an uncommon fluidity for Open class, which again, comes from the length of the phrases and the connections between those phrases. Lots of really challenging tosses that they're mostly nailing. There was one that was reeeeally off. Looks like the performer was trying to touch the ground before the catch, but ended up getting disoriented and tossed the rifle off to the side on accident. But, overall, this is the Open class front-runner for sure. I'm tempted to say they should be bumped up to world class, which is weaker toward the bottom of finals this year, but that's probably just me wanting that finals to be a little more compelling from top to bottom.

I still love Ben Davis' theme. It's about the Loch Ness monster. I'm not sure I've seen a show like that before. If I have, it was many years ago. They've got a very different looking dragon floor and an interesting soundtrack. Strong performers as well.

Westerville Independent Open gets credit for their costuming and makeup. They were all black and white except for one performer. Very, very cool. Not a bad performance, either, just not the most impressive in the world.

[Origin]

Carmel and Avon were both absolutely incredible. You could hear every single catch from Carmel, it was so solid. And then Avon comes out with something a bit different yet SO compelling. I really couldn’t tell which was better.

[Rubisco]

Avon and Carmel are definitely the most talented guards in the scholastic world class this year. Avon is doing a really good job giving us a full story, a full emotional narrative. To me, that's mainly why I prefer them to Carmel. Carmel's show is super elegant and super well performed, but ultimately it doesn't move me very much. As a result of that, it's not especially memorable or effective for me.

Miamisburg's show is elegant as heck. For me, though, the performers aren't quite at the level of Avon and Carmel. I think you have to reward the performance. Or maybe not. We'll see. I've seen all the SW groups this year except West Broward and Stoneman Douglas, and I think the pretty clear top 5 scholastic world groups right now are Avon, Carmel, Miamisburg, The Woodlands, and Tarpon Springs. Definitely from an effect standpoint, but probably also across most captions.

Poor Center Grove and that freakin' basketball net. The opening sabre toss hit it and went ricocheting off. That's not at all how you want to start your show. They seemed really rattled by it and gave a rough performance. Onyx also had a weapon hit the net. Ugh!

[Rubisco]

Ok. The scores were posted. Yeah, Avon ahead by a couple points. Maybe they'll be able to eke out a 90+ after finals.

Unfortunately, it looks like that local circuit score for Miamisburg that had them over an 87 a few weeks ago was in fact very inflated. Not really surprised to see that. Seemed like way too much of an increase from the previous week.

[Rubisco]

Anyway, back to Texas.

Friendswood royally dominated WGI Dallas prelims in Scholastic A. They scored around a 91, about 5 points higher than 2nd place.

The North, South, and West scholastic A TCGC contests have wrapped up. Bridgeland, Clear Brook, and Westlake won each, respectively. Westlake, Bridgeland, and Pflugerville managed to crack 90s. The Woodlands JV was just below that around an 89. Beyond that, a handful of groups scoring an 86-something.