The Residence Hall Association Singing Bee held in Scooter’s Tuesday night was different than the average school bee. Students did not get up and spell words or name places on a map, but instead named songs and tried singing lyrics in a karaoke-style game show.
The contestants chose songs by spinning a wheel until it landed on anything from Tom Petty to Taylor Swift.
The singers were judged on how well they sang, and the top finishers were awarded prizes, including an iPod nano, two iPod shuffles and an iHome stereo system.
Students Olivia Ulrich and Meghan Dwyer give Scooter’s their rendition of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin.'”
Junior Mo Berkowitz walked away with the iHome after reaching the final two-singer round by belting out Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA.”
The crowd was small but involved during the singing, and some audience members helped their friends remember hard lyrics.
“I really enjoyed it,” Berkowitz said. “The crowd involvement really helped me.”
One of the challenges for the singers was remembering the lyrics, as there were gaps in the songs projected on the video screen. Sometimes there were long pauses as singers forgot portions of the song.
“I would look and see the words of the song and there would be a blank line,” Berkowitz said.
In the “name that tune” rounds of the event, contestants scrambled to think of names of some challenging songs.
Senior Ryan MacDonald, RHA vice president of finance, emceed the event and said he was pleased with the outcome.
“At first it was a little nerve-wracking, but it was a good time,” MacDonald said. “We do a lot of fun things like this.”
Drew Landon can be reached at land7305@stthomas.edu.