brians

was it a full or partial panel tonight

of the top 3, If anyone can crack it, it will be Vanguard! as the dark horse

I don't know if I would call them a dark horses, but would suggest they have the potential to move up significantly from last years placements (3-4 placements) while others go down: Cavaliers, Blue Stars, Academy

in most cases, as GE goes so does the winner

I agree

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in the end it always comes down to what judge is assigned to what shows. as long as judges are consistently scoring you one way all summer (which they all do), you can generally tell what corps will win what shows/captions based up who the assigned judge is. It is how you can really affect the outcome of shows. Try to have DCI tell you how they assign judges for finals week... who makes those decisions... good luck trying to find that out!

Blue Stars had the most difficult slot to preform in following blue devils and blue coats. Difficult for any corps to preform in that slot, and performance order does matter

blue stars percussion especially the pit are awesome this year. the pit, drums, horns are so well interwoven into the ensemble of their show

Blue Stars may pass up phantom by the end of the year if not sooner!

to me the girl in the dress is a tinker bell, fairy god mother, the angel of your dreams... she sheds the light within the shadow of the dream and guides you through the craziness, nonsense of the dream

henry7184, give it a rest

how does a bus breaking down last night mean they cant make their assigned show time tonight. I really don't get it. There has been more than enough time to have the bus fixed or a new one if leased brought to them. Or, cant they pack the 3rd bus into the other 2. We did this all the time when our busses broke down. strange since the cadets were to go on first....or maybe that's the issue

not the best time slot for Blue Stars, but we will see

I agree with wesleyrp above, but would switch Blue Stars and Blue Knights

well, im highly suspect of Madison's guard score as well

well, highly suspect of the one judge placing Blue Stars drums below Madison. very strange, Blue Stars drums this year are outstanding.....

as of today, the 2 most impressive jumps from last year have been the Blue Stars (11 to 8) and Cavaliers (9 to 6) Both have jumped up three places and into the next tier... something that is very difficult to do in todays modern drum corps... good luck to both as the season continues and may you rise even higher!!!

This season is shaping up to be quite exciting. Is always a more fun season when you can be looking forward rather than getting a kink in you neck by looking over your shoulder all season long. Would not be surprised to see Blue Stars knock off Phantom in the end. I am sure there are even more elements to be added, and once the major changes start being cleaned... watch out!! Was surprised BK beat BS in music tonight... considering how little BK plays......I believe this will change as the season progresses... Keep pushing forward and do not become complacent

very surprised Blue Stars did not best BK in music.... would not be surprised to see this change as the season progresses

I believe part of it has to do with the long entangled history of the 2 corps. Madison was the king of the hill for many years in Wisconsin and the drum corps world prior to the Blue Stars coming along in the mid 60's and 70's. All of a sudden this new little corps came from out of know where and started beating the scouts. There is a long tentacled history of many relationships between the 2 corps that go very very deep... between instructional staff, admin, judges, members dating/marrying one another, competing for members... and even deeper in the historical development/founding of DCI itself. All be said however, both corps deeply respect one another, and truth be told, would probably not disagree that what is good for Madison is good for the Blue Stars and drum corps overall and visa versa

in the end for the 7-11 slots, it will probably come down to which corps staffs can make the most effective program changes and execute them. This will be a real test of each corps writers/creative staffs ability to make the most impactful changes on an almost daily basis and the ability of corps instructional staff to teach members to execute them. True competition throughout the entire corps.... staff down to members...should be a great ride down to the end and who communicates through performance "we want it the most"

is nice to best 2 corps that beat you last year...hopefully, phantom next..... would not be surprised to see BS, BK, MAD, and later PR jockey back and fourth all season long. The 7-11 spots is shaping up to be a real boxing match this year all season long

great job Blue Stars.... Keep it up into tomorrow..... keep cleaning...

what kind of a judging panel was it? does anyone know?