The Urbandale Show Choir season came to an end on Monday, March 3, after Pops 2. Members of Affinity, Vitality, and STUDIO crowded the stage to hear Mr. Brimeyer read The Kissing Hand, followed by singing “Lonesome Road”. This season the choirs competed at Waukee Starstruck, Johnston ShowZam!, Troy Buchanan Show Choir Invitational, and Norris Fields of Talent. They also performed at home for their preview show, Pops 1, The Urbandale Show Choir Invitational, and Pops 2.
The season started off a little rocky at Waukee Starstruck with Studio bringing home a 5th-place trophy, while Vitality received 3rd in the Prep Division, and Affinity earned 2nd in the Treble Divison. However, a sophomore from Vitality, Kelsey Davis, received Best Soloist award. Once the groups traveled down Aurora for ShowZam! Things did start to look up for them.
Though they did not receive Grand Champion at the end of the day, Urbandale swept the best soloist awards out from under the competition. From Affinity, Abigail Shaka (9th grade), from Vitality, Kelsey Davis (10th grade), and Jett Harris (11th grade), and from STUDIO, Courtney Dunn (12th grade). During daytime awards, STUDIO was in second place behind Linn- Mar 10th Street Edition but above Waukee Northwest Eos. Vitality wasn’t far behind, making it into finals for what would be the first time of the season. By the end of the day, STUDIO took home 3rd place and Vitality brought back a 5th place finish in finals, knocking out multiple varsity groups. Affinity received another 2nd place trophy from the Treble Division. After Johnston, the groups traveled down to Missouri.
Students left before the first bell of the day the Friday prior to the Troy Buchanan Show Choir Invitational in St. Louis, Missouri. Once they arrived at Troy Buchanan High School, the groups seized the opportunity to unload all of their equipment from the trucks and then did a ballad exchange with the host groups of the competition. After, the groups went to the City Museum and embraced their inner child, while the directors played pinball, lots of pinball. Following an unplanned stop at the St. Louis Arch, the groups arrived at their hotels and prepared for the big day. This would be the competition of the season, turning STUDIO’s “Home Alone” show into a Grand Champion show. In addition, STUDIO also received Best Vocals, Best Choreography, Best Band, Best Ballad, Best Costumes, and Henry Dix (12th grade) received Best Bass Soloist. However, Studio wasn’t the only Urbandale group shining bright at Troy, Vitality made finals for the second time and received 6th place overall while Affinity earned 3rd place in the Single-Clef Division. After sweeping the competition, and their homerooms, students arrived back at their hotel at the ripe old hour of 1 am, only to leave for home around 8 am on Sunday. After the longest trip of the season, the groups dove into USCI the next weekend.
The 42nd USCI was as amazing as ever, with groups from not only the Des Moines Metro but also from Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Nebraska. The event was a momentous occasion for Waukee and Waukee Northwest as it marked the first time the schools would compete against one another. At the end of the day, the traveling trophy stayed in the metro, going just down the road to Johnston’s Innovation. They were followed by Waukee Millennium, Mitchell Friend De Coup (Mitchell, South Dakota), Millard West West in the Groove (Omaha, Nebraska), Waukee Northwest Eos, and Broken Arrow Tiger Rythm (Broken Arrow, Oklahoma). By no means was this competition a predictable one, all six varsity groups in attendance were repeat grand champions. The competition was even a Homeroom Show Choir “Comp of the Week”. USCI weekend was followed by another competition-free weekend to allow band members to participate in the Perry Band Olympics.
Once the group was back into competition they were out west for Norris Fields of Talent in Nebraska. While they took home straight second-place finishes across the board, they also brought home memories, and probably left puddles of tears in the hallways as it was the senior’s last competition. However, their season wasn’t quite done yet and they performed one last time Monday night at Pops 2 for their home crowd.
