theCHEZman Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 As far as I recall, DCI finals was comprised of the top 12 corps (barring ties in prelims 1977). I'm sure that number may have been due to logistics back in the day like no lights in stadium or something I am not aware of. With finals in domed stadiums with ample housing, why hasn't this number been adjusted? Perhaps its to keep the finalist achievement special? Interested in thoughts of how the 12 came about and arguments for maintaining/increasing number.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjordansc Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 Back in the day we were told that with four corps to an album the number of finalists would have to be divisible by 4. So, 12 made the most sense for finals. Eight were too few and 16 would take too long. Not sure why it is still that way other than tradition. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HockeyDad Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 Recall the full blown extravaganza of finals retreat, and no televised broadcast. With no time constraints those shows could go on forever! I don't think lighting was an issue. Also BITD you could see some real movement in placements, unlike today. So a fourth place corps in prelims, for example, had a very real chance of winning in finals in the early years or pre-dci. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madisonscoutsfan Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 If there were 16 in finals then pioneer would have been in finals in 2000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 Back in the day we were told that with four corps to an album the number of finalists would have to be divisible by 4. So, 12 made the most sense for finals. Eight were too few and 16 would take too long. Not sure why it is still that way other than tradition. This. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterA Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 With 22 WC corps in competition currently, that means over 54% of them are currently making finals. If you add any more corps, almost every corps will make finals, as is the case with Open Class currently, where 85-90% of the corps are making finals(having 13 or 14 corps in competition) Between OC and WC finals approximately 67% of the active corps are making finals. And while there are many years, you could make a case for 14-15 corps being at a level they should maybe make finals, if you add any more corps to finals, then it really doesn't mean anything to make finals. I have even heard some people argue that currently a corps might not even be in the top half of the corps, and they still make finals. I do remember in the past hearing the number being 12 was due to the album/vinyl recordings holding 4 each, as has already been mentioned by several others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 (edited) With 22 WC corps in competition currently, that means over 54% of them are currently making finals. If you add any more corps, almost every corps will make finals, as is the case with Open Class currently, where 85-90% of the corps are making finals(having 13 or 14 corps in competition) Between OC and WC finals approximately 67% of the active corps are making finals. And while there are many years, you could make a case for 14-15 corps being at a level they should maybe make finals, if you add any more corps to finals, then it really doesn't mean anything to make finals. I have even heard some people argue that currently a corps might not even be in the top half of the corps, and they still make finals. I do remember in the past hearing the number being 12 was due to the album/vinyl recordings holding 4 each, as has already been mentioned by several others. like DCA 10 in finals and one or 2 get left out....silly..although I think they have 14 now...Remember the pre DCI years? I sort of remember 6 in finals or something like that. I also remember a shorter prelim show. Edited June 5, 2014 by GUARDLING Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 From the corps perspective, more corps in Finals is a good thing. That's one extra performance date at a venue and housing they're already locked into for most of the week. If anything, it'd make sense to open up all three competitions to all corps; give the corps and members their money's worth. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 Back in the day we were told that with four corps to an album the number of finalists would have to be divisible by 4. So, 12 made the most sense for finals. Eight were too few and 16 would take too long. Not sure why it is still that way other than tradition. And DCA had to do some wierd stuff to get 12 corps on the albums. Including 12 corps Finals (last done 1975), 11/12 place corps doing preshow exhibitions and one year (1976) having 11/12 place play a standstill in front of almost empty stands between Prelims and Finals. Almost empty as the guard sat there and tried to sound like a big crowd. Nothing like playing for the album about 30 minutes after you did Prelims *ugh*.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 As far as I recall, DCI finals was comprised of the top 12 corps (barring ties in prelims 1977). I'm sure that number may have been due to logistics back in the day like no lights in stadium or something I am not aware of. With finals in domed stadiums with ample housing, why hasn't this number been adjusted? Perhaps its to keep the finalist achievement special? Interested in thoughts of how the 12 came about and arguments for maintaining/increasing number.. Good question, especially considering how many corps there were back in the day. Now-a-days Top 12 = more than half the number of WC competing corps: meaning Finalist is awesome, but more than half of the corps are finalist (WGI also used to have a set limit of finalist, regardless of ratio of finalist-non-finalist, some years keeping out only 1 WC unit, some years keeping zero out I think). I kind of think it's remarkable how special Finalist still is, considering the low amount of WC corps. Semi-finalist is even more diluted, with 25/36 corps (69%) making semis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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