queenanne_1536

It's really not much of a differentiator. I loved the choir last year. They were beautiful. But, they are not the sole answer to the plethora of problems in Allentown. I would not chalk up 2017 as a success by any measure. I quite liked the show - it had some beautiful moments. But from a competitive and design stance, it was absolutely not a success. it was way over designed, way too literal, and the design wasn't really that good (musically or visually, except for the brilliant integration of the choir - I will give them that). If you look at what the top 5 were doing last year, the 2017 Cadets weren't even remotely in that league. Of the top 12 last year, I would probably put Regiment as the only corps that didn't have a show design better than the Cadets. It was too been there, done that. In the 80s, 90s, and 00s, the Cadets were the leaders of the activity. Other corps followed them. That is not the case anymore. I think it's time the Cadets start following, until they can get back into that leadership role. They need to forget nearly everything they know and do something completely fresh, if not inventive, while not losing their identity. Stay away from Copland and Bernstein, bring us something new. Something we haven't seen from you, or anybody, before.

Exactly. And, I do not think the overall design was better than the previous year. The guard was way too big for one thing, and the theme was just very weak. It's like they picked the music they wanted to play then said "let's call it Phantasm" and then figured out the theme based on that. They need to go modern. Modern uniforms, modern design, modern staging. They really didn't have any of that in 2017. I did like the show, it was entertaining and I loved the music, but they are on a steady downtrend that needs to be reversed before it becomes too late.

I would agree with this wholeheartedly. I was honestly shocked when the Cavaliers overtook them. While I don't think neither suffered from design issues, I think Bloo had a beast of a drill that proved impossible to clean. I do feel Cavaliers were over-scored in brass. The big four are: BD, SCV, Crown and Bloo. I don't think anyone can argue otherwise because Cavies beat them by a miniscule spread on finals night. Since 2011, Cavies haven't beaten BD, Crown, SCV or Bluecoats (except finals night). I think Cavies have put themselves in a great place heading into next season, but I think they have a bit more to prove before they are considered Big Four. 2012 - 8th place, 2013 - 7th place, 2014 - 6th place, 2015 - 9th place, 2016 - 5th place. Not convinced they are going to hold on to top 4 next year.

1. Crown 2. SCV 3. BD 4. Bloo 5. Cavies 6. BK 7. BAC 8. Cadets 9. Madison 10. Stars 11. Regiment 12. Crossmen

Yes, but that system is heavily flawed, and there's really no logical defense of it.

That is the problem because current scoring does not reflect that. One judge might see one corps as better, but still scores them lower because of herd-judging mentality. I see that with BD's GE and Visual scores at finals, where for the first time they were placed first in every single subcaption. Which is bollocks in my opinion, even though I think the overall result was right.

I'm usually an observer, but thought I would chime on in this one. Re: herd judging - it is a reality and there is evidence of that. All one needs to do is go to: http://www.fromthepressbox.com/2011season.htm The first two shows of the season perfectly illustrate heard judging mentality. The scores from the first show were withheld until after the second show. The judges at the second show had nothing to go by and it shows. Crown dropped from first (3.6 over Cadets) to 4th (2 points behind Cadets). Out of 8 corps, the places only remained the same for 3 corps. Once the scores from the second show were revealed, the remaining shows throughout the season remained in line with that. The first two shows are how it should always be, especially in the early season. But once judges have past judges marks to go by, that is their guide, and they don't look at each show from a fresh perspective. There is not such thing as "on any given night" anymore.