KeithHall Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 Since there is a small amount of corps competing in DCI, is it really worth the time and finances to have quarter and semi-finals? Why not go back to a prelims and finals World Class Contest. You can save some money on rental of the stadum, judges, etc. 35 corps competed in quarter finals last year. You know who the top 12 will be by Championships and there won't be much moving by corps. If someone can tell me that there is alot of movement in that week prior to DCI week then please do. Prior to the 80's you would see some big jumps up or down but not today (or in the last 20+ years). Discuss 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 As long as all of the corps which now compete on Thursday are allowed to compete on Friday, then I certainly can see a cost saving reason to eliminate the Thursday contest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 Since there is a small amount of corps competing in DCI, is it really worth the time and finances to have quarter and semi-finals? Why not go back to a prelims and finals World Class Contest. You can save some money on rental of the stadum, judges, etc. 35 corps competed in quarter finals last year. You know who the top 12 will be by Championships and there won't be much moving by corps. If someone can tell me that there is alot of movement in that week prior to DCI week then please do. Prior to the 80's you would see some big jumps up or down but not today (or in the last 20+ years). Discuss I'd be up for that. Maybe take it a step further, so if DCI had the Top 6 already qualified for Finals, and the other 30ish groups are scrapping for the final 6 slots for Finals: a kind of winner-take-all, put everything into one last show type of vibe. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim K Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I like the idea of a three day contest along with the parade. I agree that there is not a great deal of movement in placement, but I like the fact Open Class has an opportunity to compete in semi's if they score high enough. Also the excitement of Crossmen moving up after semi's and making finals last year made it very enjoyable. However, what I think would be interesting is to have the scores of prelims and semis be a part of the finals score. I am not sure how it works today, but years ago in figure skating I believe that the compulsories counted for a certain percent of the final score, the short program score was a certain percent of the finals score. It could mix things up a bit and it would make attending all three performances more worthwhile. Now as someone who does not attend finals each year, I'm not sure two days would make it worthwhile for travelers who do not attend each year, especially if finals is not held in a summer time tourist trap. Nothing against Indianapolis, the people are friendly, businesses welcoming, parking was easy and affordable, and I found it easy to get around the city by car, but it's not exactly a summer hotspot, and if it is, the tourism bureau needs to work harder at publicity. Now if Open Class prelims and finals could be held at a venue closer to Indianapolis held perhaps on Wednesday/Thursday rather than Monday/Tuesday then a two day prelims and finals for World might be interesting. Also another consideration would be "Big, Live, and Loud" broadcast on the Thursday evening. This is a huge draw and a big part of DCI's outreach. Would there be as many theater venues on a Friday night which is when new films usually open to the public? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumcorpsfever Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Regarding the OP's question: Is it worth it? Answer: Heck ya! I absolutely love prelims- the "all skate" is an awesome day from the 1st corps on the field to the last one of the night. If you've never been able to take the whole day in before, and you love drum corps, and can be in Indy, do yourself a favor and take in prelims. It's an incredible day. As for semi's on Friday - another terrific day with the top 25. Friday in its own right is terrific. As for finals, well it's the top 12 - the showcase of the activity. What more can you say about that. Throw in the parade, the National Theater event of Thursday, the age out ceremony, etc... Yes, definitely worth it. It's the highlight of our summer! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterA Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 From a personal standpoint, I love the fact we get to see the top 12 3 days in a row, the top 25 twice, and everyone else once. I agree it probably would save some money, and there probably isn't much need to have 3 days of World Class events, but I personally love seeing the shows multiple times, even if the judging doesn't change from night to night. But in the long run, I think DCi probably makes quite a bit of money from having 3 days of shows during finals week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterA Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 One more thing, it is probably beneficial to the corps as well. Since they get paid for each show, that is more revenue for the corps that have traveled to Indy. Plus, I have heard that many of the corps make almost more in souvenir money that last week than they do during a majority of the tour combined. So if you cut one day out of that week, I wonder how much some of the corps might suffer. Again, I don't know how much each corps makes for performance fees that week, but since they have already traveled to get there, they might as well make another appearance fee if possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmjfelts1988 Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Since there is a small amount of corps competing in DCI, is it really worth the time and finances to have quarter and semi-finals? Why not go back to a prelims and finals World Class Contest. You can save some money on rental of the stadum, judges, etc. 35 corps competed in quarter finals last year. You know who the top 12 will be by Championships and there won't be much moving by corps. If someone can tell me that there is alot of movement in that week prior to DCI week then please do. Prior to the 80's you would see some big jumps up or down but not today (or in the last 20+ years). Discuss I'm glad to see the inclusion of Open Class involvement in prelims and semifinals combined with World Class. It's how it used to be for 3+ decades and frankly, I didn't like it when they changed it in 2003. However, I can also see how a 25 corps semifinals with only 35 total corps might be a bit much. If you look at where the top 2 Open Class corps are placing, it might be a more balanced elimination of semis was around "20". 17 might be too far of a stretch for the Open Class corps so I wouldn't want to go back to that. But the Open Class Corps have proven that they can easily place between 18 and 20 so I think that might be a better line in the sand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 I'm glad to see the inclusion of Open Class involvement in prelims and semifinals combined with World Class. It's how it used to be for 3+ decades and frankly, I didn't like it when they changed it in 2003. However, I can also see how a 25 corps semifinals with only 35 total corps might be a bit much. If you look at where the top 2 Open Class corps are placing, it might be a more balanced elimination of semis was around "20". 17 might be too far of a stretch for the Open Class corps so I wouldn't want to go back to that. But the Open Class Corps have proven that they can easily place between 18 and 20 so I think that might be a better line in the sand. The only other option is to completely get rid of the miniscule amount of Open Class corps we have now by just putting them in World Class, let the OC corps who don't want to financially commit to the WC tour model be regional-based, and just do away with the entire class. Open Class Prelims/Finals seems pretty pointless as it currently is, as all 14 corps got to perform in OC Finals anyway, even if two of them were exhibition. Maybe instead of doing away with World Class Quarters or Semis, DCI can get rid of Open Class stuff and save more money by not using judges or the stadium Monday & Tuesday. Attendance seems fairly miniscule for those shows anyway (especially for OC Prelims) Perhaps that's a more apt solution that the OP is looking. I'm fine with DCI dissolving Open Class all together and just lumping everyone into World Class. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c mor Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 The only other option is to completely get rid of the miniscule amount of Open Class corps we have now by just putting them in World Class, let the OC corps who don't want to financially commit to the WC tour model be regional-based, and just do away with the entire class. Open Class Prelims/Finals seems pretty pointless as it currently is, as all 14 corps got to perform in OC Finals anyway, even if two of them were exhibition. Maybe instead of doing away with World Class Quarters or Semis, DCI can get rid of Open Class stuff and save more money by not using judges or the stadium Monday & Tuesday. Attendance seems fairly miniscule for those shows anyway (especially for OC Prelims) Perhaps that's a more apt solution that the OP is looking. I'm fine with DCI dissolving Open Class all together and just lumping everyone into World Class. Now you've done it. Better duck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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