After spending more than six months preparing before traveling to five competitions over a six week span, Grand Finale, Rome High School’s show choir, wrapped up the competition season at the Tift County (Ga.) Peach State Invitational on Saturday, March 9.
“That’s the busiest season we’ve ever had. It was energetic and exciting but at the same time exhausting. It took an extreme amount of dedication and focus for the kids to be able to do that,” Director Dr. Cody Goss said. “I’m proud of the season. There are a lot of things we can do better. We have a lot of plans for next year and next season. I’m just trying to put us in the best position to be successful just like any coach.”
The group played the part of road warriors for those five competitions, as Grand Finale racked up more than 1,600 miles traveling to five different schools in three states.
The group's top showing came at the Jasper (Ala.) Foothills Show Choir Classic where they brought home a slew of awards, including Best Vocals, Best Choreography, Best Overall Effect and The Spirit of Foothills Award. The group also grabbed first place in the Tier III Division.
“Really the highlight was the second contest in Jasper (Ala.) where we got first in our division and we won best vocals and swept the awards. That was really nice,” Goss said. “In Nashville, we finished second in our division and third overall. Our score was almost the same as it was last year when we won in Nashville.”
In Nashville, at the Donelson Christian Academy Music City Show Choir Invitational, Grand Finale took second place in the Middle Mixed Division and placed third overall in the entire competition.
The group grabbed a third place finish at the Tift County (Ga.) Peach Invitational and a fourth place finish at the Petal Show Choir Invitational in Mississippi. The group also competed at the Albertville (Ala.) Diamond Classic.
Although the competition came to a frenetic close over the last weeks of February and early March, Grand Finale began preparing for competitions the day school started in July.
“Day one of school we started practicing. Generally we start right when school starts. We’re working on everything from that moment until the last contest in March,” Goss said. “We have them in class, but we also meet every Monday for rehearsal. The later in the season it is, the longer we go at practice.”
For those unfamiliar with show choir, the group sings, dances, throws in a couple of off-stage costume changes and more over a roughly 20-minute span with the song and dance numbers forming a theme.
This year’s theme was titled, “The Hero Within”.
“We had two characters that are science fiction writers that are kind of introverted and write comic books. The rest of the town considers them outsiders. In the middle of the show, we have a comic book scene where these two heroes imagine themselves as characters in their comic books, so they turn into super heroes on stage,” Goss said. “At the end of the show, they sort of ditch their masks and embrace the qualities about themselves as we’re singing the song “This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman”.”
The show resonated with audiences and judges alike. The group even spent some time in the national show choir rankings compiled by Homeroom show choir. Grand Finale earned a spot at No. 95 in the poll for the week of March 1. This is the second consecutive season the group has earned a spot in the national rankings, making it one of only a handful of Southern show choirs and one of only four Georgia show choirs to be nationally ranked.
One issue with competition season is that locals don’t get a chance to see the group in action unless they make it to the roll out show in late January. That changes in a couple of weeks as Grand Finale and Grand Illusion, Rome Middle School’s show choir, will have a wrap-up show at the Rome City Auditorium on Monday, April 1, allowing Romans a chance to see both award-winning show choirs.
“We hope that people will get a chance to come out and see these kids perform. It takes a lot to do what they do,” Goss said. “We’re also always looking for sponsors to help us offset the costs for us.”