saxyman

Mirroring my statement in the ISU prediction, this is all super early, but I'll give it a cursory go. 1A Watseka is no stranger here, but Rushville-Industry has had some great showings as well. 2A I'm leaning towards Newton for the moment, but there are several contenders. 3A Mahomet-Seymour seems likely, but East Peoria has made steady improvements. 4A Bloomington, Galesburg, and Washington might be fighting this one out. 5A Plainfield North, Batavia, and Elkgrove are who I'd go with for now, not really sure who I'd favor. 6A DGS and Normal are who I'd look to initially, but there are a couple others that could close the gap. I'd love for most of this to be wrong, as changes are good for the competitiveness and education of Illinois.

This far out, it's really hard to make much of a guess. At the moment, I'd say... 1A Any of the participants except Olympia, but they aren't completely ruled out by any means. 2A Changes at Morton make this interesting, but I'd still go with them at the moment. 3A Even with their "down" year in 2018, it's still Marian here. 4A I'll lean towards Hersey, but Rock Island and Romeoville are certainly possibilities. 5A Tough to call between Prospect and VJA, but history favors Prospect. 6A Lincoln-Way may take this, but Lockport is right up there. Personally hoping for a Lake Park comeback. Side note: O'Fallon may not be coming, neither may Herscher?? (This is especially surprising) I'd love for most of this to be wrong, as changes are good for the competitiveness and education of Illinois.

I'm going to assume it's because it's cheaper for whomever to do so, unless I hear otherwise.

A new director has been hired for Morton. Tim Gray

I will just post the most current article, but there is likely a director change for Morton.

I know Prospect has been in Finals as well, not sure what others there are.

Jackson Academy, MS would disagree with that, but I realize that is certainly an outlier. That might circle back to the discussion of larger band sizes "hiding" the weaker performers. There is no doubt that any of the bands in Finals were fantastic, but if they were the absolute best can be debated. It is still a subjective activity, case in point (for me), I felt that Dobyns-Bennett was stronger than Homestead in finals. I know I'm not fully versed in judging nuance, but it just looked, sounded, and FELT better. I already acknowledged my O'Fallon prediction as biased lol.

Finals Results 97.350 Carmel, IN (Music, Visual, GE) 96.175 Avon, IN 95.600 Blue Springs, MO 95.450 Broken Arrow, OK 94.600 Tarpon Springs, FL 93.950 Wando, SC 91.000 William Mason, OH 90.150 Homestead, IN 90.100 Jenks, OK 90.000 Dobyns-Bennett, TN 90.000 Prosper, TX 89.300 O'Fallon Esprit De Corp: Blue Springs, MO 2020 Rose Parade Invitation: Dobyns-Bennett, TN I believe this makes Carmel, IN the third band to win 3 GN Finals in a row. The others being Avon, IN and Marian Catholic. Edit: Should I buy half of a lottery ticket?

I am going to post my PERSONAL PREDICTIONS for Finals placements. I even scored bands myself. Apply salt liberally, as I am nowhere near a professional of anything but armchair judging. Also, trying to watch every aspect of a show is pretty difficult, especially when you enjoy it too much to look as closely as you'd like. *cough* Asphalt Cocktail *cough* If I'm anywhere close, I'm going to buy a lottery ticket. 97.000 Carmel, IN 96.875 Tarpon Springs, FL 96.625 Blue Springs, MO 96.250 Avon, IN 96.125 Broken Arrow, OK 95.950 Wando, SC 93.250 William Mason, OH 92.375 O'Fallon 92.000 Dobyns-Bennett, TN 91.750 Jenks, OK 89.500 Prosper, TX 88.750 Homestead, IN (Might be biased towards IL)

Yeah, it does end their appearance streak of 34 years though. They'll need to be stronger next year if half of Texas is going to be there. Hopefully we don't end up with only Indiana and Texas in finals lol. I was really looking forward to two Illinois bands in Finals too. Great job to O'Fallon, though.

1A 1. Bourbon County, KY (Music, GE) 2. Lewis Cass, IN (Visual) 3. Norton, OH 2A 1. Tarpon Springs, FL (Music, Visual, GE) 2. Marian Catholic 3. North Hardin, KY 3A 1. Dobyns-Bennett, TN (Music, GE) 2. Homestead, IN (Visual) 3. Franklin, TN 4A 1. Carmel, IN (Music (tie), GE) 2. Blue Springs, MO (Visual) 3. Broken Arrow, OK (Music (tie)) Finalists Carmel, IN Broken Arrow, OK Blue Springs, MO Avon, IN William Mason, OH Tarpon Springs, FL Homestead, IN Wando, SC Dobyns-Bennett, TN O'Fallon Prosper, TX Jenks, OK

I was also surprised that Adair didn't make it. I do wish Lincoln-Way had gone this year for sure. O'Fallon looked really good in semi's, so let's hope they can make finals.

Semi-Finalists: Broken Arrow, OK Kennesaw Mountain, GA Carmel, IN Castle, IN Franklin, TN Avon, IN Fishers, IN Blue Springs, MO Tarpon Springs, FL Marian Catholic Dobyns-Bennett, TN PCEP, MI Wando, SC American Fork, UT William Mason, OH O'Fallon Lawrence, IN Jenks, OK Bentonville, AR Lockport Prosper, TX Lakota East, OH Center Grove, IN Centerville, OH Homestead, IN Goshen, IN Rockford, MI Morton North Hardin, KY West Salem, OR Camdenton, MO Mustang, OK Norton, OH Greenfield, IN Lewis Cass, IN Bourbon County, KY Monrovia, IN

Unfortunately, we rely entirely on user submitted videos. Combing through youtube/vimeo what have you for videos each season is just not feasible for the few of us that attempt to keep things updated. We do, however, have to approve display of videos that have been submitted. I will admit that we could certainly be faster on that, but sometimes we get a video submitted that includes multiple bands or "fluff" content that just doesn't quite fit. If we could edit that or split the performances into multiple videos, one for each band represented, it would be just fine. Seeing as how we rely on external video hosting services, that just isn't an option.

Completely forgot I didn't post my Semi's list. Better late than never? I know its +a few bands, but it's hard to decide and account for class representation. No particular order, exactly, the top 16 or so are who I kind of lean towards on Finals, but that's obviously a pretty rough estimate. I might post who I think for Finals after semi's performances. I hope to catch most of them. Tarpon Springs Broken Arrow Avon Carmel Blue Springs Wando Dobyns-Bennett Jenks Homestead Union O'Fallon American Fork Marian Catholic Lawrence Township Kennesaw Mountain Franklin William Mason Lockport Fishers Castle Center Grove Morton North Hardin Nation Ford Fort Mill Bentonville Centerville Lakota East Prosper Archbishop Alter Jennison Bourbon County Adair County West Salem Homestead, CA