November 7 – November 10, 2012
Hosted by BOA at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana
500 South Capitol Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46225
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Below is a chart of how Michigan bands fared at the 2012 BOA Grand Nationals Championships.
| Band | Prelims | Semifinals | Finals |
| Godwin Heights | 66.35 – 28/44 Fri | Did not qualify | |
| Grant | 67.95 – 31/44 Thur | Did not qualify | |
| Jenison | 80.60 – 9/44 Fri | 77.55 – 27/34 | Did not qualify |
| Lakeland | 69.25 – 29/44 Thur | Did not qualify | |
| Plymouth-Canton | 88.65 – 6/44 Thur | 85.60 – 11/34 | 84.95 – 12/12 |
| Rockford | 84.15 – 6/44 Fri | 82.25 – 19/34 | Did not qualify |
| Walled Lake Central | 79.70 – 11/44 Thur | 76.95 – 29/34 | Did not qualify |
Full results can be found at BOA’s Website.
Grand Nationals is a three day event. All Bands compete in Preliminary competition which spans two days, and will be judged regardless of class against one another. Prelims take place on Thursday and Friday. Performance day for Prelims is determined by band preference, taking travel distance into consideration, and striving to create a balance of each class in both days. Band performance order is randomly drawn for each performance day.
Semifinals takes place Saturday morning, with at least 30 bands in attendance. The top 11 scoring bands per day (regardless of class) advance into Semifinals; this gets us 22 bands. The next 8 highest scoring bands (regardless of class or day) will advance; this gets us to 30. To ensure representation of each class, the top 2 scoring bands of each class will also advance if they were not in one of the afore mentioned groupings based on score; this would allow for up to 36 bands, but based on history, averages 32-34 bands in Semifinals.
Performance order for Semifinals is determined first by the top 22 highest scoring bands [please note that this is not necessarily entirely the two groups of 11 that advanced from Prelims]. These 22 bands are slotted randomly in the middle of the competition block. The remaining 8 bands of the first 30 are randomly ordered, with half of them performing before the top 22, and the other half afterwards. Any additional bands beyond 30 will perform in random order prior to the 30 bands.
While judges do not consider class when judging, tabulators will take judges scores and determine Class rankings during Semifinals. At the conclusion of the Semifinals competition, Class Champions, as well as second and third places will be announced, and caption awards for Music, Visual, and General Effect will be awarded in each class.
The top 12 highest scoring bands (regardless of class) will advance into Finals, held Saturday evening. Should any Class Champion not advance on their own merit, they will be invited to perform in exhibition during Finals.
Finals performance order is determined based upon a pre-draw that happens during the Semifinals draw period. Each band receives a randomly assigned number and are ordered based upon that number. Any band that does not advance into Finals is simply removed from the list with no changes to order being made.
For more information about the rules that govern Grand Nationals, please read the Bands of America Offical Procedures and Adjudication Handbook (PDF).
Below is a chart of how Michigan Bands fared at the 2012 Grand Nationals Competition: