Spring Sing 2013 kicked off at 8 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion. The annual event, which began in 1945, showcases UCLA students’ talents in song, dance and sketch comedy. Follow our coverage of the night as it unfolds here.

 

10:45 p.m.

Best Overall Entry goes to Bruin Harmony.

Audience Choice Award goes to The Street Hearts.

Best Band Entry goes to The Street Hearts.

Best Solo/Duet goes to Sara Summers.

Best A Cappella goes to Bruin Harmony.

Best Production Entry goes to Hooligan Theatre Company.

Best Overall Participation goes to Alpha Delta Pi and Theta Xi.

Best Group Director goes to Caitlin Myers for Delta Gamma and Pi Kappa Phi.

Best Company Video is “Now 1919.”

10:36 p.m.

All performances have come to a conclusion. Voting has commenced, and the audience is advised to “choose wisely.” I know who I’m voting for, do you?

10:32 p.m.

And the last performance is done by The Street Hearts, a three-man band involving a cello, guitar and keyboard. One bass drum, manned by the cellist, is also part of the symphony of instruments. All three members participate in the vocals of their song “The Beggar.” I am assuming the song is about a beggar, but I am not completely sure.

10:25 p.m.

The next skit revolved around a TV program showcasing the hottest Bruin hits. These included spoofs “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore in the Hilltop Store and Justin Timberlake’s “Suit and Tie”, changed to “Study Guide.”

One of the last acts of the night, Bruin Harmony, begins by seducing the audience with its undeniably suave moves, and everyone (including myself) is buying into it. Performing an a cappella version of “Ignition” by R. Kelly, the crowd is charmed. The performance incorporates simple dance choreography along with completely appropriate pelvic movements that the audience responds well

I’m a huge fan of puns (if you haven’t picked up by now) and the next live skit is right up my bane, ahem, lane (I stole that one). The next skit involved Bane from The Dark Knight Rises, taunting Batman with jokes that revolved around Bane’s name. “I am the Bane of your existence,” Bane declares in a voice that people can actually understand this time. He continues with “The Bane in Bane falls gently on the Bane,” a reference to Eliza Doolittle’s ill-fated attempt to say, “The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain” without a Cockney accent in the film “My Fair Lady.”

Other highlights included the audience’s favorite, “No Bane, no gain,” and the non-sequitur “How many tickles does it take to make an octopus laugh?” The answer: “Ten tickles.”

10:23 p.m.

India Carney Band, led by frontwoman India Carney, brightens the stage with backup vocals, a drummer who doesn’t look enthusiastic (but is still good at what he does), a interestingly dressed guitarist, keyboardist and bassist. Too much smoke on stage. I am being blinded.

10:20 p.m.

Company’s skit has the audience (well, mainly me) in tears. As Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “No Church in the Wild” begins to play, the titles appear “That book that everyone read in high school” and it becomes clear that this skit is the trailer for the college version (“The Great Fratsby”) of Baz Luhrmann’s latest film, “The Great Gatsby.” The skit spoofs some of the scenes now made famous by the trailer, including the ending line when Nick Carraway says, “You can’t repeat the class.” To which, “Gatsby” replies, “Repeat a class? Why of course you can.”

10:12 p.m.

Buttery-smooth vocalist Philip Haro enters the stage with his song “Matter of Time.” Haro does a short rap and hits high notes to change up his slow-paced love symphony.

A little bit confused by this skit, but the audience loved the one-liner that suggests the fountains at UCLA are filled with the tears of USC from the schools’ 2012 football game. The UCLA tour guide also said our favourite line from “Mean Girls” (second reference to the movie tonight!): “You don’t even go here.” Some Oompa Loompas (who actually look like ducks) also introduced Philip Haro.

10:06 p.m.

Pi Kap and Delta Gamma join forces to do a performance of their altered rendition of The Wanted’s “Glad You Came.” A guy dressed like Superman has taken the stage, singing an original version of 3 Doors Down’s “Kryptonite.” So appropriate.

10:03 p.m.

If Company’s last skit wasn’t punny enough for you, its next skit involved the word “sheet” and its homophone, which should become clear as you read on (disclaimer: puns galore). Employees at ASUCLA stand in front of a box of sheets and offer students sheets of paper. Highlights of the witty banter include a conversation that goes back and forth like this:

“I think you’re full of sheet.”

“Well, I am a theater student.” (The crowd oohs)

“We carry around a lot of paper, that’s a lot of use of sheets.”

“So do you want any sheets or not?”

“I’d love to take a sheet but I don’t have a backpack.”

“That’s no problem, we can just put this sheet in your pants.”

“Great idea! I’ll have a sheet in my pants!”

9:58 p.m.

Halle Charlton takes the stage as the fourth act after the intermission. Her performance, accompanied by the piano, is reminiscent of “Love Song” by Sara Bareilles, who actually won Spring Sing in 2002 and 2003. The crowd claps along with Charlton as she sings “I owe you nothing, nothing at all!”

9:51 p.m.

Random Voices up next. The all-girl a cappella group does its own arrangement of Kanye West’s song’s “Power” and “Love Lockdown.” The performance is slow-paced, with deep background vocals that complement the main singers’ bold, but higher, voices. While the performance started out slowly, it ended on a memorable, strong note led by one of the lead vocalists. The crowd goes wild!

9:50 p.m.

The dorms take on a life of their own as they appear on stage in the form of people. Sproul, draped in yellow construction tape, introduces herself, “I’m Sproul, and I’m always under construction.” De Neve is next, dressed in a red cocktail dress. It isn’t long before the rivalry begins and the dorms begin to argue over which dorm is the best. Rieber, dressed in a leopard print shirt starts to get very defensive as a hippie-like Hedrick begins to bash on Rendezvous.

9:45 p.m. 

Andrew Marian performs a solo with just his guitar on the open stage. The spotlight shines upon him as a random camera man struggles to get a creative angle on the performance

9:36 p.m.

ACA Hip Hop, a dance group, takes the stage after the intermission. The entire group performed rhythmic dance moves with great precision. The booming bass and flashing lights bring the choreography to life. “I’m feeling sexxaaaayyyy” sings the Beyonce recording, as the female members of the group mesmerize the crowd with their saucy dance moves.

 

 

 

 

The band "Free Food" performs at Spring Sing.

[media-credit id=4344 align=”alignnone” width=”300″] The band “Free Food” performs at Spring Sing.

9:02 p.m.

Free Food is up. With its punchy beats, passionate vocals and catchy rhythm, the act does not disappoint. The band features a drummer, a lead vocalist, a trombonist, bassist, sax player and guitarist — with all this talent combined, it’s surprising to see that Free Food’s sound is not overwhelmed by the instruments and actually becomes a cool, funky and unique harmony of noise. The stage is brought to life, and the crowd is more than pleased.

9 p.m.

As Company finishes the latest skit, a female student trying to cross the road gets hit by a car (think Regina George in “Mean Girls”). It looks as if she is dead, but she gets up again. Yep, she has nine lives. She’s acting …. “Like a Cat.”

What’s this we are seeing? UCLA students begin to cough up furballs, leap around dorm rooms, lick each other’s faces when they are on a date.

The latest craze to hit the UCLA campus seems rather fishy. We can’t help but notice its similarity to the Lonely Island’s hit “Like a Boss.”

8:55 p.m.

Scattertones, the a cappella group which performs at several UCLA events, including the ‘Beat SC Bonfire, begins its song with a dramatic, powerful male vocal. The voices of all members of the group harmonize to create beats that sound just like an actual bass (but I guess that’s what their specialty is)

 

8:52 p.m.

“Even as we walk on by, you will always be our crosswalk guy. You’ll always be waiting for me at the crosswalk,” they sing. Members dressed in orange and yellow safety shirts hold up separate “Stop” signs that instead read various words that form a sentence reading, “<3 cross walk guy, live love laugh.” The crowd begin to participate and sing the chorus as the spotlight shines on Mike, who is sitting in the audience. The crowd goes wild and refuses to quiet down even as Scattertones begin to take the stage. Scattertones is on stage yet the crowd continues to chant “Crosswalk guy, Crosswalk guy.”

Company’s next melodic performance is dedicated to Michael Miyake, the famous crosswalk guy.

8:49 p.m.

Sarah Summers hits the stage with her banjo and country-folk voice. Summers brings a new energy to the stage with her sweet vocals and intricate banjo playing. There is something Florence and the Machine-like about her voice that melds surprisingly well with the entire act.

8:47 p.m.

Company’s male members work out together at the gym, lifting weights while yelling positive thoughts to motivate each other. “Corgis!”, “Matt Damon in every movie,” “American Idol Season 5,” “Jennifer Lawrence,” “Jennifer Aniston”, “Most celebrity Jennifers,” “Matt ….” The members appear to be in a lot of pain as they yell their last positive thought, “Sarah Summers!”

 

 

8:42 p.m.

Hooligan Theatre Company cleverly titles their musical-esque act “Bruin and the Beast.” Vocals sound like they could be straight out of a Disney movie, along with the rhythm and energy level on stage. Snappy lyrics, appropriate costumes and great singing make this act quirky and memorable.

8:39 p.m.

“Male Daily Bruin reporters are actually all females in disguise,” one lookalike exclaims. Oh the irony, all the Charlie Chaplins on stage are women.

Company’s skits feature four Charlie Chaplin lookalikes. The lookalikes toss ideas around, cracking jokes as the crowd laughs and claps.

 

 

8:35 p.m.

Cool lighting always adds the right amount of pizzazz to any performance, not that Papazyan’s impressive vocals need any enhancement.

Suze Papazyan has taken the stage with a single keyboard.

 

8:30 p.m.

A duo called “The Protagonist,” featuring violin and guitar as their main instruments, sings a heartfelt song titled “Duality.” The violin and guitar harmonize well with the vocals, but I am not exactly sure what the song is about.

Now the roommates are showing us the men’s bathroom — “15 toilets all in one room.”

So ends Company’s spoof of MTV U’s “College Baby Daddy” as The Protagonist takes the stage.

8:27 p.m.

Company’s skit follows a member showing us around his Sproul dorm room. There’s a kitchen –it’s an Enzo’s pizza.

8:25 p.m.

Alpha Delta Pi and Theta Xi end with a grand finale of “College days at UCLA.”

Alpha Delta Pi and Theta Xi are performing a rendition of “Grease” aimed at UCLA. “Go Grease Lighting” has been modified to “Go True Bruins.”

 

8:21 p.m.

Company is playing the game “Never have I ever …” One member appeared to be missing the point of the game when she admitted her mother dropped her on her head as a baby. The same member is now announcing she has been dumped seven times.

“Never have I ever… seen Alpha Delta Pi and Theta Xi,” Company announces as the respective groups take the stage.

8:15 p.m.

Ariana and Andrew, a duet, open the show as the first act. As Ariana sings, Andrew accompanies her vocals with soft piano notes. I’m sure my soul is not the only one being soothed by their music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6:15 p.m.

Get to know the contestants in this year’s competition through videos and stories produced by Daily Bruin staff. Next, follow Daily Bruin mobile journalism blogger Kassy Cho and A&E blogger Jeein Shin on Twitter for updates throughout the night. Their tweets and commentary will be compiled here.

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