Skyline Blues place a strong second at 2020 ICHSA Midwest Quarterfinals

The Skyline Blues are back – and in fine singing voice!

The Blues, who placed second overall in the nation at the 2019 International Championship of High School A Cappella Finals in New York City last April, placed second on Friday by just six points at the 2020 ICHSA Midwest Quarterfinal No. 2 and advanced to the ICHSA Midwest Semifinal in Centerville, Ohio on March 14.

The event, held at Skyline, was won by From The Top (Northview High School, Grand Rapids) with 378 points. The Skyline Blues took second with 372 points. Chicappella (Brighton High School) was third with 287 points.

The Skyline Blues also earned “Outstanding Choreography” for the entire set.

“The performance we gave on Friday was really good,” said Skyline Blues member Derek Mrachko. “We had more of an emotional connection to each other, to the music, and to the theme of our set more then than at any time leading up to it. We nailed our dynamics and blend and we had far and away the most interesting and well-executed choreography.”

But Mrachko was quick to note that the performance wasn’t short of mistakes.

“There were some tuning issues late in the show and the tempo got all wonky at the end, and I feel like our theme of fighting against the stresses and pressures placed on today’s youth didn’t come across as clearly as it could have,” he says. “We’ve discussed it as a group and we all seem acutely aware of what we need to do to improve over the next five weeks to give ourselves the best opportunity to compete well at semifinals.”

The Blues also had a “great time” watching the other groups perform.

“Nearly every group there was experienced and had achieved some success in their time competing over the years, so it turned out to be probably the best quarterfinal Blues has ever competed in,” Mrachko said. “The group that won, From The Top, is new this year and they absolutely knocked it out of the park! We shared a room with them to prepare for the performance and they were super excited to be there.”