Will The G7 Split From DCI?

[cowtown]

Here's where I differ about what's going on.

The G-7 (or whatever you call them) are the most accomplished and capable of today's DCI. They are used to putting down the "newest marker." They live for the next best thing, pushing the envelope, etc. Right now, they can do whatever it takes to continue that drive. Lesser corps organizations are an anchor around their neck. Any same, old paradigm is NEVER enough. Right now, this elite group is dipping its toes into new water.

I believe the urge to be something better, something new and evolving, is too much to bear. This IS the beginning of an entirely new product. In the end, it could all fail, but, that's not the focus. The concern is not being able to continue the pursuit. Flex your muscles while you have them, so to speak. This is not just a natural part of the continuum, but something I believe could lead to a more successful and mainstream attraction.

I look forward to watching this all play out.

Tangentially touches upon something I’ve been mulling

So we have competitively successful corps that aren’t feeling the love of the crowds for their artistic vision looking to maybe move out of DCI where they can be appreciated by a larger, more mainstream audience?

We saw this with Star…BD is in about the same spot as were Cadets a few years back, part of the human psyche, the ego within DCI?

In context, it rubs me wrongly – so if they are going for mainstream, why’d we get that Mirror show with source music that was panned, why did we get Sarah Jones and WWS most obscured and blurred songs? Why did we get wandering around the field? Many of their fans would have us believe that we weren’t smart enough or that as a devoted niche audiences our tastes weren’t sophisticated enough to appreciate their art

And now they are going to dumb it down for the mainstream?

Yeah, thanks

It feels contemptuous to the DCI audience, we’ve seen this before

I really don’t get how this would work, at what point do marchers become staff with instructional video and camps? If you take the scores away, is it a show, do you have to pay the performers, what about labor laws and that oh so tenacious grasp to being education? I also don’t get the replay value for a live audience – did anyone follow Blast from town to town?

[cowtown]

I watched Olympic archery. Those competitors ALL scored perfect, or near perfect, throughout their careers. Their history didn't mean a thing to me. It was the drama, the pleasure of the setting, the feeling I adopted for certain performers that kept me watching.

A lot of that drama is created by their history, with all those Up close and Personals and all the pre-game hype stuff, it seems that you are more the exception by not caring about their history

[perc2100]

I said if there is 'no chance' of them dropping out then it is rigged; good grief read my posts!

I did read your post, here's what you said:

Stu, on 29 November 2012 - 06:53 PM, said:

And again I restate that if there is no chance in the future of any G7 dropping out, way out, even out of the top 12 then the judging system is most certainly corrupt and rigged!!!!!

I bolded/resized the part that I thought pertinent. Do you really think in the near future that it's possible Blue Devils will not be in the top 12?!

A) you are thinking of hypotheticals that are WAY far out in the future; BD, for example, hasn't missed finals since, what, early 70's? SCV has NEVER missed finals. You explicitly stated "any" G7, not giving specific examples, so I'm holding you to that nonsense (if you're going to make goofy hypotheticals)

B) you are making stipulations that none of us have any ideas about at this time. We don't know if G7 corps will break from DCI: you seem to be assuming they are. Your assertions are at best naive, and at worst ludicrously uninformed.

[UNCGQ]

B) you are making stipulations that none of us have any ideas about at this time. We don't know if G7 corps will break from DCI: you seem to be assuming they are. Your assertions are at best naive, and at worst ludicrously uninformed.

+1

Nobody knows exactly what 2014 or 2015 will look like, not even the G7 leaders.

Anybody suggesting otherwise is grossly misinformed.

[corpsband]

+1

Nobody knows exactly what 2014 or 2015 will look like, not even the G7 leaders.

Anybody suggesting otherwise is grossly misinformed.

+1 to you as well sir!

Reading DCP you'd think that everyone here is named Jean Dixon.

[cowtown]

Is Jean married to George, are we all his concubine?

I like the off season rumor mongering as a hysterical, creative exercise

[Fran Haring]

A lot of that drama is created by their history, with all those Up close and Personals and all the pre-game hype stuff, it seems that you are more the exception by not caring about their history

I'm with Fred on this one.

I'm am Olympics junkie... I spend two weeks every two years channel-surfing Olympics events. All day and night, when possible.

But honestly, I have no idea about the backgrounds/history of many of the participants in many of the sports (and there are very few, if any, "up close and personals" about the athletes in many of the more obscure sports), nor do I care... it's the event itself, and the performance of those athletes at a particular event, that draws me in, not the athletes' history. And I don't think I'm an "exception" here.

OK.... back to our regularly-scheduled topic.

[flammaster]

why a duck?

[N.E. Brigand]

Not all G7 have to drop out of the top twelve, or even drop out at all, for them to lose credibility:

Here is a plausible scenario for you: Lets say it is in the future; the 20xx MiM line up is this: third place BD, fourth place Cadets, sixth place SCV, seventh place Crown, ninth place Cavaliers, 10th place Regiment, and 12th place Bluecoats. Will not the crowd be very curious, and upset, as to why first place Scouts, second place Boston, and fifth place Crossmen are out while the lower ninth, eleventh, and twelfth placing corps are in?

Not really very plausible. Who's to say the MiM is forever static? The MiM may very well be envisioned as the persistent top 8.

Well, the G-7 themselves seemed to envision "permanent" status for themselves, given that they were willing to grant "permanent" entry into their group to any other corps that scored 8th or better three times.

Obviously we can already see that this is not exactly the case with MiM, because #8 is in for 2013, but #7 is out. And remember that for much of the past summer, it seemed very possible that Cavaliers could finish eighth or lower. Who would be participating in MiM next year if Scouts had placed eighth? Stu's scenario seems quite plausible.

[corpsband]

Well, the G-7 themselves seemed to envision "permanent" status for themselves, given that they were willing to grant "permanent" entry into their group to any other corps that scored 8th or better three times.

But as Stu correctly points out, a MiM show that consisted of the bottom 6 or all non-finalists would probably not be successful. The MiM series is predicated (at least for now) on the attraction of seeing the elite. Unless the MiM morphed into a product that was far more attractive than the standard DCI show, it would fail to compete with other corps / shows and be starved out of existence. I think the TOC did offer a little more -- fans really seemed to enjoy the small ensembles and interaction with the members. But I think most fans still went because they get a chance to see the top 8 at a single show. We'll have to wait and see if there are more changes to the format in the wings. But I think the MiM is going to have to add / drop corps (eventually) just to remain viable (unless of couse those corps all continue to finish in the top tier).