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While not everyone has the gift of a good singing voice, everyone can have the opportunity to express themselves through lip-syncing.
On Tuesday, Nov. 5, Alpha Psi Omega hosted their biannual ‘Lip Sync Battle.’ The event took place at 7 p.m. in the U-Club in the Overman Student Center.
During this event, students performed some of their favorite songs in front of their peers and PSU faculty. The students have been practicing their performances for weeks, so they would be ready when it was their time to hit the stage.
“It’s supposed to be kind of like a low maintenance, but high energy performance,” Scott Ladish, sophomore in communication and President of Alpha Psi Omega, said.
Alpha Psi Omega is a theatre honor society and have been hosting the ‘Lip Sync Battle’ once a semester, for the past three semesters. They have been hosting this event for people to come watch students perform a song, and to have the feeling of an actual concert performance.
“This is one of the events that we are wanting to make a staple that we do every semester,” Ladish said.
The inspiration for this event came from the television series ‘Lip Sync Battle’ which airs on the Paramount Network. The show consists of celebrities lip-syncing songs from artists, and creating a whole performance for the audience to engage in. This is the same format that Alpha Psi Omega followed, so students can express themselves through dances and gimmicks.
“It’s another opportunity to perform in front of a crowd,” Ladish said. “It is not as frightening because you perform in front of friends and some faculty.”
The event had judges to decide who they believed performed the best. Some of the judges were Kristen Livingston, instructor at PSU and Dr. Troy Comeau professor at PSU.
The songs that students performed included “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” by Whitney Houston, “Truth Hurts” by Lizzo, “Shallow” by Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, “My Shiny Teeth and Me” (from The Fairly OddParents) by Chris Kirkpatrick, “About To Get Crazy” by Oh the Larceny, and “Last of the Real Ones” by Fall Out Boy.
“I grew up watching Fairly OddParents, and I just wanted to do this song for nostalgia sake,” Garrett Wainscott, senior in graphic communication said. “It’s such a great song.”
“Truth Hurts” by Lizzo is considered to be women’s empowerment song. According to Billboard.com, it is the longest rule ever for a rap song by a female artist.
“I love Lizzo and the way she dresses, and the way she holds herself,” Jenna Russell, sophomore in communication, said. “It’s always fun to get to perform for other people.”
Preparing for a performance can be stressful, but the day of the performance is what people work so hard for.
“Some of my dancing was improvised,” Wainscott said. “There was a little bit of nervousness, but in the end, it paid off.”
The community donated rewards for Alpha Psi Omega to award the top three performers of the night, also there was a raffle to win prizes for the audience members. Some of the prizes included gift cards to restaurants in Pittsburg and a cookbook.
“We wanted to do more of an involved fundraiser,” Ladish said. “(The Lip Sync Battle) is something that we hope to continue.”
