Who’s going to win in Philly?
Posted by Lorin May | Posted in Contests & Judging, In the news, Just for Fun, Uncategorized | Posted on June 22, 2010, 6:30 AM
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A week from today, barbershop’s best groups will be on display in Philadelphia, starting with the College contest on Tuesday, the quartet quarterfinals and semifinals on Wednesday and Thursday, chorus contest on Friday and finals on Saturday. (Buy tickets and get the schedule of events here. Sign up for the webcast here.)
So who’s going to win these contests? Everyone’s always making their predictions online, but rarely do we ever get a chance to take the next step: Take an ENTIRELY MEANINGLESS, UNSCIENTIFIC POLL online. You know you’ve always wanted the chance. That’s what we’re here for.
The qualifying scores for Philly suggest that Joe Connelly (lead, Old School) has a strong chance at leaving town as the first man to earn FOUR international quartetting gold medals. But prelims scores are just that — ask Max Q how much their prelims scores helped them in 2004-2006. Storm Front aims to do for Old School what FRED did for PLATINUM in 1999 — make a big leap in Singing and be tops in entertainment, while making Joe wait another year before he rewrites the record books. Meanwhile, Ringmasters wants to become the first off-shores quartet to win the whole thing.
And who can’t wait to see Westminster and The Vocal Majority in their first rematch since the much-debated-after-the-fact showdown? And don’t take a bathroom break when Midwest Vocal Express is up. Remember the fish? This year’s set may rival it.
So who’s going to win the three championships up for grabs in Philly? Take the poll and then beat your chest, throw dirt and bristle your tails in the comments area. (All poll candidates listed in alphabetical order.)
See you in a week!
Click here for Collegiate qualifying scores.
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Spanglish is the real deal.
After hearing them at the SUN fundraiser shows, I predict an easy medal and a darkhorse shot at the big prize.
Warning to other quartets that have a higher qualifying score – don’t count your pollos before they hatch!
After hearing and watching the Toronto Northern Lights last week, they have a very good chance at GOLD!
What about HHHHHHHHHHHHHH… jkjk. Looking forward to Philly though.
I think that’s one to many H’s…
haha
It looks like it should be the Baltimore Orioles taking it all this year! {;-)>
While I would love to see Storm Front take Philly by storm, I believe Old School will take it.
As for the Collegiates, I’ll take Power House or Spanglish! Go Sunshine District!!!
Monkey Magic (78.0%) is my vote for the Collegiate. They’re in the other Quartet contest too!
A very close 1st and 2nd between Vocal Majority and Westminster. Northern Lights could sneak up on either of them. As for quartets, I see Old School and Storm Front coming in 1st or 2nd. Given the high scores from last year, it could be very interesting… Could the VM score better than last year’s 2nd place score? Whatever happens, it will be a great convention!!
It’s going to be a barn burner for sure. Don’t count Denver “Sound of the Rockies” out of the chorus competition. If Storm Front doesn’t win the contest, they will again win the hearts of the audience. They’ve added some new wrinkles, as usual, to their already unbelievable repertoire of fun which doesn’t take away from their singing at all. They tore up the district competition this spring.
In the collegiate quartet competition, don’t sleep on a quartet by the name of the Phantom 5th. SWD champs who are all members of VM. They posted a 71.2 when they qualified, but they hadn’t had a single coaching session at that point in time. They’ve been getting coaching since then, and they’re definitely going to be gunning for the gold.
There’s no way that VM loses this year. With Jim directing his final contest, and with the hard work these guys have put in, they’re looking like they’re going to be scary good. Westminster is going to really push them, but there’s no way that VM is going to get second two years in a row.
Expedition has a VERY good chance at collegiate gold this year. They qualified with a 77.8 and their highest scoring song, which happens to be arranged by their bari Bryan Ziegler, was their highest scoring song with an 80.7! Look for them to improve greatly on these scores. These guys have been working their tales off and have a great desire to get better and better since they won the LOL District Competition this past October. They also will be competing in the big boy competition and have a chance at surprising some folks by sneaking their way into the top 20.
As far as the quartet competition, here is my prediction for the top 5:
1. Old School
2. Storm Front
3. Ringmasters
4. Masterpiece
5. Musical Island Boys
Chorus:
1. VM
2. Westminster
3. Sound of the Rockies
4. Alliance
5. Northern Lights
(I predict the SoR, Alliance and NL to all be very close together in the 3-5 slot, maybe even making it one of the closest bronze medal slots of all time! The VM will do nothing but win, especially with this being Jim Clancy’s final International, they will come out and wow the crowd. Westminster will, as always, make for an interesting competition. I definitely look forward to watching how things play out this year, even though I have to webcast it…)
That’s ok. Looks like everyone on this blog doesn’t think the Alexandria Harmonizers are even contenders, like I said that’s ok, they are hunting for gold so sit back, relax, and watch an amazing bunch of guys knock your socks off.
I wonder if, on the off chance that the VM gets handed their second silver in a row by Westminster, if Jim would postpone his retirement one more year? Would he really be content to retire if his beloved VM had to face the Masters of Harmony for the first time ever, and he not be the one to lead them into that awesome showdown of showdowns against the only undefeated (since their first gold) multiple gold-winning chorus in the Society?
Westminster is undefeated after their first gold now too.
The VM – MOH showdown will be epic! With TNL, Hilltop and SOR among others (zero8?) nipping at their heels.
Lest anyone misinterpret my intent in my previous comment: I am not hoping for such a thing to happen. Just idle speculation on what, as I said, was an off chance.
Jim Clancy and the VM all the way!
My chorus predictions for the top 5 are
1 -V.M.
2 -Westminister
3-Voices in Harmony
4-The Alliance
5-Sound of the Rockies
r/u The Northern Lights
Looking for The Big Apple to be in top 10
Congrats to Westminister! Alexandria Harmonizers – your extended family, friends and fans appreciate all you guys do and what a fantastic performance. 5th place is such an awesome job. Be proud guys, you earned all your accomplishments.
Congrats to Westminster and Storm Front … well done guys and well deserved. Thanks to all who had such kind words to say about TNT … what a thrill to be there for our 25th Anniversary.
Bravo to all performers we saw last week. My first International was a thrill that I will remember always.
A few questions…
How many chartered chapters are there in the Society? How many have choruses? How many choruses in Affiliate organizations?
I tried seeking this info on eBiz and was able to generate a list of chapters. There was no count indicator, but by scrolling through the pages, I estimate 827 chapters including 17 Frank Thorne chapters.