The three Visual captions (Performance, Ensemble and Color Guard) and the three Music captions (Brass, Ensemble and Percussion) each get 20 points on the judges' sheets, are first added together and then divided in two for the total Visual and total Music score. (This is done so the judges can work with tenths of a point rather than half of tenths, which would necessitate them to carry out their scores to two decimal places.) That means the three Visual and the three Music captions contribute up to 10 points each toward the final score.
Every caption is further divided into two sub-captions to help each judge focus on the specifics on their sheets. The following explanation is a gross oversimplification of the process: Both Visual Effect and Music Effect are divided into sub-captions for Repertoire (the quality of the design and its effect) and Performance (how well the corps presents the visual and music designs). Visual Performance is divided into Technique (training) and Excellence (quality of individual performance), Visual Ensemble is split into Composition (achievement of content) and Excellence (quality of performance by the entire corps) and Color Guard includes Content (challenge) and Achievement (accomplishment). All three Music captions are broken down by (level of) Musicianship and (quality of) Technique. Please remember the above is greatly simplified, and many judges would likely provide interpretations much different than my own.
At the end, it was as it was in the beginning; Blue Devils in 1st place, completing another undefeated season, the second in a row and almost the third season in a row, save for 0. 250 at the DCI Eastern Classic and 0.025 at Finals in 2008. The Cavaliers maintained their late season surge over three corps that had beaten them earlier and Bluecoats won their first-ever top-three medal at the World Championships. Carolina Crown and The Cadets couldn't sustain early season successes over The Cavaliers and Phantom Regiment popped back into the top-six. Blue Stars placed 8th for the third year in a row and Boston Crusaders held off the surging Madison Scouts. Blue Knights slipped under Scouts and Glassmen finished in 12th.
There were no dramatic changes in placements, with all finalist corps placing the same in Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals. Five corps moved up in score from the Semifinals and seven moved down.
View the complete World Class Finals recap.
Blue Devils (1st place – 98.90) added 0.85 to their total score and again took all captions except Percussion, in which they placed 4th. Percussion ended 0.5 down to Phantom Regiment's winning score, and again placed under Bluecoats and The Cavaliers. Color Guard scored a perfect 20.0, as the ensemble did in Quarterfinals and Semifinals. (Remember that translates to 10.0 points in the total score.) Visual Ensemble moved up from a 19.9 to a perfect 20.0. Visual Performance moved up from a 19.6 to 19.9, meaning the entire Visual total was just 0.05 from a perfect score. One Visual Effect judge gave the corps a perfect score and the other a 19.9, a score also earned from one Music Effect judge. (The other scored them a 19.5.) Brass scored 19.8, Music Ensemble 19.7 and the 4th place Percussion came in at 19.1.
The Cavaliers (2nd place – 97.75) added 0.50 from Semifinals and finished 2nd in every caption except Music Ensemble, which finished 4th with a 19.2, under both Bluecoats and Carolina Crown. Still, the caption score of 19.2 was just 0.5 under that of Blue Devils, representing only 0.25 of the total deficit to BD.
Bluecoats (3rd place – 96.40) slipped 0.10, and except for 4th place finishes in Visual Effect and Visual Ensemble, placed 3rd across the board, (tying with Crown for 3rd in Music Effect).
Carolina Crown (4th place – 95.95) added 0.60 to their total score and were all over the board between 2nd (Music Ensemble) and 5th place caption finishes, (Visual Effect, Visual Performance and Percussion). Music Effect (tied with Bluecoats), Visual Ensemble finished in 3rd, and Color Guard and Brass ended in 4th.
The Cadets (5th place – 95.10) added 0.25 and scored highest in Visual Effect (3rd) and lowest in Music Ensemble and Percussion (6th). Color Guard and Brass took 4th and Music Effect, Visual Performance and Percussion ended in 5th.
Phantom Regiment (6th place – 93.15) added 0.20 and again took Percussion, as the line has most of the season. The next highest caption placements were 5th in Brass and 6th in Visual Effect (tied with Santa Clara Vanguard), Music Effect, Visual Performance and Brass. Both Visual Ensemble and Color Guard finished in 9th.
Santa Clara Vanguard (7th place – 92.00) lost 0.45 from Semifinals, and after climbing toward Regiment, slipped from 0.5 to 1.15 behind. Percussion finished in 9th and the brightest spots were 6th place finishes in Visual Effect (tied with Regiment) and Visual Ensemble. Music Effect ended in 8th and Visual Performance, Color Guard, Brass and Music Ensemble finished in 7th.
Blue Stars (8th place – 91.90) lost 0.15 and was 7th or 8th in all captions except Color Guard, which was 6th.
Boston Crusaders (9th place – 89.35) slipped 0.25 and again finished 10th in Music Effect. Their highest captions were Visual Ensemble and Percussion in 8th. All other captions were 8th or 9th, with Visual Effect tying for 9th with the Madison Scouts.
Madison Scouts (10th place – 89.20) went down 0.25 and placed highest in Color Guard, at 8th. The two other Visual captions (Performance and Ensemble) and all three Music captions (Brass, Ensemble and Percussion) placed 10th. Music Effect ended in 9th.
Blue Knights (11th place – 87.10) fell 0.75, taking 11th in all captions.
Glassmen (12th place – 86.50) fell 0.30 and was 12th in every caption.