spinmeister

Random thoughts: I loved NEI's performance and thought it was gold-medal worthy - then I got blown away by SCV!...Not a big fan of Onyx's costumes, as they distracted from the mood of the show...NEI's costumes helped accentuate their excellent body traning...would have had SW in a little different order: Avon, Flanagan, Carmel, James Logan....Warren Central had a great run tonight...loved the sophisticated show styles of both SCV and Avon

Since I've only seen Avon's show live (Dayton) and not the others, I can only confidently comment on them. I think this show could be the sentimentalist's favorite. For me, this show, called “Release,” is about color guard and the emotional stages of a season. Throughout the show, performers embrace, share moments, push away, and reconnect. There is emotional tension, much like develops in the typical guard season. I would imagine that as other guards watch this show, they can easily see themselves in it. In fact, the very moments at the end of the final show that occur once each guard has left the arena – the hugs, the tears, the final letting go of the show and the season – are echoed in this production. And the theme appears to be carried out to the end, performers dropping to the floor in apparent emotional exhaustion, as the final two dancers embrace and then part. I think that Avon’s staff must have had that moment of a guard’s existence in mind, as each unit ceases to exist in its present form once the final performance has been completed. For the seniors in the scholastic units, this show could be quite a tear-jerker!

Agreed! In fact, I went home to iTunes and bought the music they used. Wouldn't it be great if WGI listed the music in the units' soundtracks? Since all of them have had to clear copyright requirements, it would be a way for the artists/music to get more recognition.

Good question. I saw SW and IW finals, as well as most of the SW and IW prelims. Both Avon and Miamisburg had IMHO better performances in finals. Both had better energy and performance level. The swap between Carmel and Center Grove made sense, maybe even a bigger spread than the scores at finals showed. Zydeco also had a cleaner finals run and I would have expected about an 81.5. So, the finals scores seemed to be a little low from prelims, but the order and spreads seemed pretty accurate. So, I guess the panel just started lower today.

Flanagan scored 0.8 in front of Avon. Both are nearly 2 points ahead of 3rd place Center Grove. My "eyes and ears" in Dayton say that Avon' show is noticeably more demanding, especially in body work and movement - but that they did not have a good performance. Flanagan's show is less innovative, with a static flag feature at the end - and they performed very well. Can They hold the lead?

If you look at the past few years, Logan's margin of victory was diminishing each year, with this year's gap only 0.2 - amid much disagreement in the color guard world regarding whether the finishing order was correct. To say that a guard will win 08 "only" because Logan won't be there is disrespectful to the schools that will work incredibly hard to deserve that gold medal.