POPLARVILLE – An Alabama high school and a Pearl River County student took top honors Saturday, Feb. 8, at the Mississippi Showchoir Contest held at Pearl River Community College.
The Auburn Varsity Singers were named Grand Champion showchoir and Hunter King from Pearl River Central High School received the Grand Champion Solo Award.
First runner up for Grand Champion was South Jones Company followed by PRC Central Attraction, second runner up; Auburn Elan, third runner up; and West Jones Imagination, fourth runner up.
The awards for outstanding vocal performance, visual performance and show design went to the Auburn Varsity Singers.
The annual contest was held at the Ethel Holden Brownstone Center for the Arts, marking the first time the contest returned to campus since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 destroyed the performance venues.
Judges were Dr. Mark Malone of Hattiesburg, Nancy Bocek of Chicago, Katie Dicicco of Dallas and Brian Johnson of Nebraska. Carol Joy Sparkman of Mississippi College was the soloist judge, and the finals judge was Dr. Jonathan Kilgore of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
PRCC’s showchoir, RiverRoad, and the vocal ensemble, The Voices, performed in exhibition on Friday and Saturday.
Division winners were as follows:
Middle School Class A – PRC New Edition, Northeast Jones Tiger Vibe, Columbia Academy Exclusive.
Middle School Class AA – Petal Middle School Spark, South Jones Middle School Infusion, West Jones Middle School Center Stage
Class A – Pisgah Innergy, Sumrall Legacy, Northeast Jones Gold Horizons.
Class AA – PRC Central Attraction, West Jones Imagination, Columbia Academy The Premiers.
Women’s Division – Auburn High School Elan, West Jones Revolution, South Jones New Edition.
Class AAA – Auburn Varsity Singers, South Jones Company.
LaDona Tyson, PRCC director of choral groups, directed the contest.
Central Attraction from Pearl River Central High School was Class AA winner and second runner up for Grand Champion at the Mississippi Showchoir Contest Feb. 7 and 8 at Pearl River Community College.
PRCC Public Relations photo