Prelims Organized by Highest Score to Lowest
CLASS DAY OVERALL SEMI-
YEAR TITLE SCORE DAY RANK RANK RANKING FINALS?
2019 Urban Canvas 84.35 Thu 4th AA 16th 26th …yes
2011 Tempest’s Fury 82.40 Thu 2nd AA 13th 29th …yes
2015 Cold Hearted 82.30 Thu 1st AA 11th 24th …yes
2017 On the Fence 81.30 Thu 2nd AA 20th 35th …yes
2008 Seize the Night 80.80 Fri 3rd AA 13th 26th …yes
2012 Joan 80.60 Fri 4th AA 9th 27th …yes
2010 Pipes 80.55 Fri 3rd AA 17th 31st no
2006 Enigma Variations 80.50 Thu 2nd AA 16th 29th …yes
2007 A Time for War 80.05 Thu 2nd AA 12th 26th …yes
2013 The Path 79.75 Fri 4th AA 21st 35th no
2014 Tales of Arabia 79.55 Thu 5th AA 18th 36th no
2004 Progression 79.25 Thu 3rd AA 13th 29th …yes
2005 Fearful Symmetries 77.55 Thu 8th AA 25th 42nd no
2018 Under the Surface 77.30 Thu 10th AA 28th 49th no
2003 Blueprint 76.45 Thu 7th AA 20th 35th no
2016 Valkyries 76.00 Thu 6th AA 28th 53rd no
2002 New Beginnings 75.45 Fri 4th AA 20th 40th no
2009 Framed did not attend
If I have interpreted the online archives correctly, the Class Rank is listed for our performance day only. It is not combined with the other preliminary performances. The same applies to the Day Rank. As an example, Cold Hearted placed Jenison as 1st in AA Class and 11th overall for Thursday’s performances. When combined with Friday’s performances, Cold Hearted fell to 24th overall in the rankings. When “overall” is used, it includes all classes (A, AA, AAA, AAAA).
What can be learned from the scores, rankings, and day’s performed? Really, very little. Scoring is indicative of Jenison’s performance, yes, but it is also completely controlled by the panel of judges. If one group of adjudicators is more restrictive with their scoring and another group is not, then the final placement of anyone can dramatically change when the two days of competition are combined. Since scores are not publicly shared until after the entire competition concludes, there is no way to predict the outcome. Let’s move on to the Semi-Final’s analysis.
Semi-Finals Organized by Highest Score to Lowest
SCORE CLASS FINAL RANK
YEAR TITLE SCORE CHANGE RANK RANKING CHANGE
2019 Urban Canvas 81.90 -2.45 4th AA 26th 0
2008 Seize the Night 80.25 -0.55 4th AA 26th 0
2007 A Time for War 79.90 -0.15 4th AA 25th 1
2015 Cold Hearted 79.55 -2.75 4th AA 28th -4
2011 Tempest’s Fury 79.35 -3.05 4th AA 27th 2
2006 Enigma Variations 78.40 -2.10 3rd AA 28th 1
2012 Joan 77.55 -3.05 7th AA 27th 0
2017 On the Fence 77.25 -4.05 4th AA 32nd 3
2004 Progression 76.45 -2.80 8th AA 31st -2
Can anything be learned from this set of stats? Yes! Notice how our score drops every single time, but also notice how our final ranking does not. Usually, we move up the ranking ever so slightly. This means that the other schools still competing have also suffered some point losses. Now, can you imagine if we were able to keep our score more consistent? We might not make finals, but we sure would walk up the rankings a bit further. As it is, we tend to hang out in the mid-to-high 20’s. That’s pretty satisfying.
I promised to return to this year’s competition with some interesting observations. Urban Canvas proved to be a very compelling show, and although we never ranked in the top 3, we didn’t realize just how close we were. Here are the scores separating our 4th place prelim finish to Marian Catholic.
2nd Marian Catholic 84.725 above Jenison by 0.375
3rd North Hardin 84.475 above Jenison by 0.125
4th Jenison 84.350
We were right behind a second place finish! Competition is fierce and just this small amount of difference had a huge impact in our placement.
The semi-finals this year put our final ranking at 26th. Still, with our score, Jenison beat (3) AAA schools and (3) AAAA schools (Ben Davis, Forest Hills, Lakota West). This is a pretty good accomplishment in itself! As we have experienced so many times, it is difficult to break into the top 20 ranked bands. Reaching finals is clearly a stretch for us, but it isn’t impossible. This year, a score of 89.75 would have secured a spot in the finals.
This year’s Grand National Champion, Vandergrift, had a very non-traditional change in their band this year. There was no color guard. Instead, they utilized a dance team, who happened to use some flags for a short time. They scored a 97.15 for the win. Every year there is conversation about who the Grand Champion should be and usually no one agrees about the order of the top ten. Vandergrift was definitely breaking tradition, which was very risky, but the rulebook does not specify the use of a color guard. References to “color guard” or simply “guard” do not appear in the BOA rulebook. Instead, the term “performance ensemble” is used. This ensemble references singers, actors, and dancers as examples. The rulebook mentions that the use of color is “impactful”, but this is not a reference to the guard. My research revealed no minimum requirement for using flags, props, rifles, sabers, etc in the rules. In the end, it just comes down to creativity and how well it is executed.