Since 2001, caption awards at the Drum Corps International World Championship have been determined by averaging the scores from all three nights of the World Championship competition.
As outlined in the DCI rulebook:
At the World Championships, World Class caption awards will be determined by averaging scores at Prelims, Semifinals, and Finals. Ties will stand.
BEST BRASS – based on Music Brass score
BEST PERCUSSION – based on the total Music Percussion score
BEST VISUAL – based on Visual Proficiency score
BEST COLOR GUARD – based on Visual Color Guard score
BEST OVERALL GENERAL EFFECT – based on combining 4 General Effect scores
The average for each double-paneled caption will be used in determining caption awards.
2019 World Class Caption Award Winners
Boston Crusaders went back-to-back with the George Zingali Best Color Guard Award in 2019.
Donald Angelica Best General Effect Award
Bluecoats
Fred Sanford Best Percussion Performance Award
Santa Clara Vanguard
John Brazale Best Visual Performance Award
Blue Devils
George Zingali Best Color Guard Award
Boston Crusaders
Jim Ott Best Brass Performance Award
Carolina Crown
2019 Open Class Caption Award Winners
Spartans pose with the Best Visual Performance caption award at the 2019 Open Class Finals in Marion, Indiana.
Caption awards for Open Class corps are determined by scores earned during the Open Class World Championship Finals competition. The "Most Improved" corps award is determined by a vote of Open Class directors.
Best Brass Performance
Spartans
Best General Effect
Spartans
Best Visual Performance
Spartans
Best Percussion Performance
Legends
Best Color Guard
Spartans
Most Improved Corps
Southwind