On Saturday, Feb. 8, Southwest will host eight schools at the annual Southwest Showdown Show Choir Invitational. Schools from Nebraska, South Dakota and Kansas will be attending and competing. There are eight varsity (“open” class) groups, three treble (all women) groups, one bass (all men) group, and one junior varsity (“prep” class) group. This will mark the 17th year Southwest has hosted Showdown.

The competition is western-themed, with cowboy decorations and tumbleweed galore. Showdown is one of the few competitions in the country that are themed. Concessions and food options range from Raising Cane’s chicken fingers to a McAlister’s Deli baked potato bar, all located inside the themed “chuckwagon” cafeteria.

“Our school is a beautiful, big, open school, but in the beginning, they might have had the name ‘Showdown’ before,” show choir director Mr. Andrew Jacobson said. “The school itself does not match the name, so they (the previous choir directors) thought, ‘maybe we should add a Western theme.’ So they went with it, and it’s been that way since.”

All eight schools have groups in the open division. In order of performance, Lincoln High is bringing “Chain Reaction,” Pius X is bringing “Spectrum,” Wahoo is bringing “Royalty,” Lincoln Northwest is bringing “First Class,” Bellevue West is bringing “Take II,” Sioux Falls Washington is bringing “Classic Connection,” Atchison is bringing “Adrenaline” and Papillion-La Vista is bringing “Free Spirit.”

Four schools are bringing treble and bass groups, which are single-gender groups. Papillion-La Vista is bringing “Monarchy” and “Heart and Soul,” Pius X is bringing “Prism,” and Sioux Falls Washington is bringing “Stage Lights.” Lincoln High is the only school bringing their prep group, “Momentum,” and they are the first competing group of the day, performing at 8:40 a.m.

The three show choir ensembles at Southwest also perform in exhibitions at Showdown. Emergence, performing a Frozen-inspired set, performs at the very beginning of the competition at 8:15 a.m., Ambience, with a show centered around country and party music, at 11 a.m. and Resonance, performing their Grinch-themed show, at 4:15 p.m. Southwest’s a cappella groups, Hawktet, Silver Lining and the Quicksilvers also perform at 9:15 p.m, with final awards commencing immediately afterwards.

“Performing at Showdown feels a bit more comfortable, but also in a way, more stressful,” Ambience president sophomore Alivia Plautz said. “You’re kind of representing your school at your school, so you should probably be pretty good.”

Groups are judged based on certain categories along with an overall ranking from the adjudicators. This year’s Showdown has five judges, Kevin Palu, Andrea Cooper, Chris Miller, Hunter Boe and Dalton Myatt. Judges can range from music educators, administrators, choreographers, dance teachers and more.

“At our contest, the biggest category is vocals, the second biggest category is visuals and the third biggest category is instrumental. The last category that is the smallest is show design,” Jacobson said. “Our scoring system is built for every tie breaker, but especially when you have five judges, there can’t really be a tie.”

Vocal music students volunteer their time throughout the day to help organize and set-up the event, along with serving food, hosting schools, assisting judges and working backstage.

“We have room hosts which take care of their school that they pick, people helping the judges all day and people just cleaning up and working backstage to help the school set up. We also have people greeting people as they walk in and collecting tickets,” Resonance president senior Mason Farmer said. “The students just make everything run and we are able to help our directors and make sure everything goes smoothly.”

Tickets for the 17th annual Southwest Showdown are available on the LSW Show Choirs website, and cost $17 for adults, $12 for seniors 60 and over, $10 for students with valid ID and free for children 5 and under.

Since its conception in 2007, many schools have come and gone to the Southwest Showdown invitational, but only one can take home the title of “grand champion” each year. Below is a timeline of every grand champion dating back to the first ever Showdown: