Homewood High’s mixed show choir group The Network touched down at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport from Los Angeles on March 16 after making history as the first-ever group to go completely undefeated for the entire season.
At Los Alamitos High School, The Network swept the competition for the fifth consecutive time since February — meaning not only were they Grand Champions, winning the entire competition, but they were also awarded best vocals, best choreography and best show design.
The Network’s show this year was “California Dreaming,” a theme based on their trip. Senior soprano section leader Mary Martin Booker said the show was centered around the music festival Coachella but filled with underlying meanings.
“When you go deeper, it is about how important music is in our lives, and how everyone needs music,” she said. “That’s something Mr. McDonald told us, to find motivation and purpose in the fact that we love music.”
The show choir environment in California is vastly different from what The Network was accustomed to during the regular season in Alabama.
“Historically, it has been very difficult for groups not from California to go out there and do well,” said show choir director Cody McDonald. “You might make finals, but you are definitely not going to win. It was Network’s first time going out there and winning a competition in California. It was a challenge we wanted, to just see if we could go out there and win.”
While they knew it would be a difficult feat to win, the Network still set their expectations high, despite fears the show might not appeal to the right audience.
“We really thought we could do it, but we had reasonable expectations,” Booker said. “But at the same time, we knew it would be a different show compared to these schools, and we did have some doubts that our show might not translate since our show was about Coachella.”
A challenge of traveling across the country is getting the equipment off and on the stage. Because the stage crew did not attend the trip, all of the Network boys were responsible for constructing the equipment and moving it on and off the stage.
“Most places we go, there is a specific spot that we can set up all of our TVs, light towers and equipment,” McDonald said. “This was not the case in L.A. We had to build the stuff in the back of our equipment trucks, lay them down, back the trucks up to the loading dock, stand them up, and roll it onto the station.”
The riser heights in California are also different from what The Network was used to during the regular season. The performers had to get used to stepping up and down different heights in the show and reconfigure the extra risers brought by changing the legs to match the heights of the other risers.
Another special feature of this year’s performance was the inclusion of an acapella piece. Almost every team in L.A. featured an acapella segment, and McDonald said they purposely included this bit to blend in more with the local competing schools.
McDonald noted some of the highlights from the performance.
“Our soloists were excellent,” he said. “Every single kid who had a solo was outstanding. We had so much that was different in our show this year than in past years. We had girls doing the splits on stage, we had so much more variety in our show. I think it made us really stand out.”
The Network consists of 24 seniors who experienced their last-ever competition in poofs and curls in L.A. Not only did this group go undefeated their senior year, but they swept the season in the same way their freshman year when they were a part of the freshman mixed group Continuum in its first year.
“It was so special for us to win because we were also the first group to do it for Continuum our freshman year,” Booker said. “And now we are the first senior class to go undefeated in Network. It was just such a special feeling to get to do it with this group.”
Booker also won best overall performer in L.A., adding on to the level of surprise from winning.
“I did not expect it at all, especially because a lot of the performers in California were professional dancers and singers,” she said. “But I was so happy. I work so hard in show choir, and it was so gratifying to have someone recognize my hard work and see that this is my passion.”
McDonald commented that one of his highlights from the trip was getting to spend a meaningful experience with this group of seniors, many of whom have been a part of the Network since their sophomore year.
“It was really important to me to be with those seniors for the trip,” he said. “It was awesome to get to grow even closer to them and spend time with them before they graduate.”
Returning home from the trip with a new trophy and a permanent mark on Homewood High School show choir history, the group set expectations high for next year and continues the legacy of The Network.
