Winter has descended, and with it comes the start of show choir competition season. Xavier High School has two show choirs, Xhilaration and Xuberance. Xuberance is the junior varsity show choir and is directed by Ms. Brianna De Jong. Xhilaration is the varsity group and is directed by Mr. Matt Walker.

Senior Emily Lauer is in her third year of Xhilariation and is excited for the start of the season.

“Our show is really good this year,” Lauer said. “The closer is really powerful. If you come and see our show, get ready to be amazed.”

Xhilaration’s show consists of six songs: “Safety” by Firelight, “Save the Last Dance” by Michael Bublé, “Flares” by The Script, “Message in a Bottle” by The Police, “Save the Day” by Selena Gomez, and “Back to Life” by Colton Dixon. The choreography was done by Jarad Voss and Tori Burns.

Costume moms Lori Erner and Ellen Morrow order costumes and make sure they are the correct size. Working alongside the costume moms are the techies. They are responsible for helping with costume changes, props, the organization of costumes, and loading of the equipment on and off the buses.

“We take a lot of the smaller responsibilities off of their shoulders,” senior Michael Buenzow said. “They are the ones performing and we try our best to make things run as smoothly as possible.”

Xuberance’s first competition will be at Linn-Mar High School’s Supernova on January 14. They perform at 10:30 a.m. Xhilaration’s first competition will be at Ankeny Centennial High School’s Mid-Iowa Show Choir Championship, on January 7 at 3:15 p.m. Both show choirs will have their first performance at Xavier High School’s Xhibition on December 30 at 7 p.m. in the Regis-LaSalle Theater.