On March 9, 2019, Granada Hills Charter High School’s Mixed Division Tier 2 and Women’s Division Tier 2 Show Choirs won third place at Hart High School (HHS). The Best Soloist award went to senior Christine Chragian.
The Women’s Division Tier 2 competed against five teams: Los Alamitos High School, John Burroughs High School, Glendora High School, Cypress High School, and Serrano High School.
At the HHS competition, everyone was placed into different divisions, and each group performed on a different day. This included the Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced divisions. The judicators scored every division based on the skills and techniques of their performances. There are four judges that change every competition, and the organizers calculate a happy medium of the final scores assigned by each individual judge.
The choreographed theme is a funky throwback to the 90s with a Disney twist. The ensemble intended to portray a message about materialism. This included that money does not buy love and happiness, but instead, being ourselves with each other is the answer to all of our wants and desires.
The performers begin training in September, and learn at least five or six routines. The first competitions are usually tryouts for new comers, but everyone continues to practice in order to improve.
“Defeating other schools that have been in this division for ten or more years is an accomplishment in itself, with or without the first place win. We are proud of our third place trophy because it symbolizes the progress and hard work our ensemble and past members of the group have put in to get to where we are now,” senior member Kimberly Lucido said.
Show choir competitions place the performances of groups into a specific format. The last groups to perform in each division were the top groups that are expected to place top three. Furthermore, before the awards ceremony, the Tier 1 advanced co-ed choirs competed and presented a performance.
“We’re a family and no matter what placement we received later that night we knew we did our best and left every piece of ourselves on that stage. As publicist of the ensemble, I was proud to capture the moments of success and even the setbacks of the night,” Lucido said.
These performers care about each other and constantly motivate each other to present themselves as hard-working and dedicated individuals.
“In show choir, everyone brings their own thing to the table. We all fit in like a puzzle, discovering the unique talents that make us the passionate team that we are,” Choir President senior Elana Cohn said.
The performers are hoping to grab a second place trophy at their last competition at Burroughs. They want people to walk out of the auditorium and feel the emotions they felt during the performance, because that to them is a grand championship in itself.
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