Wanted to escape the seemingly never-ending winter weather for just a moment? Kappa Gamma Rho’s Say What!? Karaoke was definitely the place to be. On Wednesday, March 27, the German Club was turned into a beach paradise and the lineup for the night was nothing besides A-class entertainment.
As the first round kicked off, freshman Stephen Shepherd opened the show with “Someone Like You” by Keith Urban. Getting quite absorbed into the song, he surprised the audience with a country dance break during the instrumental and made it very clear that he was singing to one special person in particular. Afterwards, the attention was turned onto the judges for their expert critiques. KGR’s President Tyler Bryant took over the Randy Jackson persona for the night and Meg Seifarth embodied a hard-to-please Paula, while Corey Scott was on point with the unenthusiastic role of Simon Cowell, lollipop and all.
There was a trend of singing 90s female pop hits among most of the male group acts. A group of four guys hyped up the audience with a well-choreographed and highly-energetic rendition of Rihanna’s “Umbrella” that got judge Meg excited. Delta Chi hit the stage with Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl,” which was hilarious and disturbing all at the same time. Then, KGR’s very own pledge class entered with a half-time show, singing to Natasha Bedingfield and Britney Spears.
Just as the first round was ending, technical difficulties arose with the monitor. “If everything went well it wouldn’t have been a Say What!? Karaoke,” said Joe Baldini, the mastermind behind the night’s event. Hosts Zani Imetovski and Dennis Malles did their best to occupy the audience, and luckily everything was resolved to finish up the competition.
Unlike the first round, where the contestants were able to choose their song, moving on to the next round meant their song was chosen at random. Stephen Shepherd, the Umbrella crew, the Delta Chi pledges, and the lone Delta Chi brother Evan were the lucky acts that entertained the judges the most. Even without knowing their next songs, all the contestants did not let their performances slip. They even got the audience to jump in and sing along for help.
In the end, the Umbrella crew prevailed as the ultimate winners and won an Xbox 360. Expecting the end of the show, all the KGR brothers gave an unexpected ending performance, making it a perfect way to send off the audience. Despite the minor technical difficulties, this was a great event filled with many laughs, and everyone should look forward to its return next year.
