Weekend Review: Spring Sing

After Company’s skit “South Campus’ Nice and Slow,” it’s highly likely there will be an increase in enrollment in Chemistry 153.

The musical performance, which also won Company Skit of the Year, explored the hidden sexual side of laboratory classes down south, where the chemistry can get hot and heavy. While the audiences found the sketch extremely funny, Company’s greatest fan support came from 2008 George and Ira Gershwin Award recipient Lionel Richie, who quoted lines from the sketch in his acceptance speech as examples of lyrics that you could only get away with in college.

This past Friday, Spring Sing 2008 drew in a sold-out crowd of more than 5,300 people. The masses gathered to see a collection of UCLA’s best musical performers, who had beat approximately 70 applicants to get the 15 coveted performing spots of the night. Spring Sing 2008 saw a couple of repeat competitors from last year; however, their performances proved that they deserved to be on the stage again.

Performing for her third time, Trisha Johnson rocked the stage with her guitar during her song “Smoke and Mirrors”. Her strong performance, however, was unable to beat out last year’s Spring Sing 2007 Grand Sweepstakes Award winner Katie Boeck.

With “White Lies,” the second-year Boeck displayed her immense vocal range and won the UCLA Mortar Board Award for Best Solo Entry and the Northern California Alumni Grand Sweepstakes Award for Best Overall Entry for the second year in a row.

“It’s been difficult ““ the talent is all so good,” said Ryan Carnes, one of the celebrity judges. Carnes, who is best known for his role as Justin in “Desperate Housewives,” added, “I’ve been a little too generous with the scores (in the first half), so I don’t know what to do for the rest of the performers.”

Though not part of the competition themselves, Company members, who fill the time between set changes for acts, were exceptional this year, not only with their skits but especially with their films.

Company parodied everything from Facebook’s addictive qualities and applications to the obsession with everything fro-yo. Company’s parody of the Hills, called “The Hill,” was one of the highlights. The clip poked fun at the popular show, exposing the callousness and ridiculousness of the show that so many hate to love.

During the more-than-three-hour performance, the audience was captivated by the array of student talent displayed on the stage. The winner of the UCLA Las Doñas Award for Best Band Entry, 3:26, combined piano, violin, rap, beatboxing and soul in their song “Undo.” This unorthodox combination of instruments and musical styles was a unique addition to this year’s lineup, showcasing the breadth of Bruin innovation.

3:26’s performance drew the large crowd’s attention directly on the small stage as they performed like veteran musicians. There was no sense that this act was made up of students whose musical career was just a sidebar to their studies.

Likewise, Colin O’Brien-Lux’s energetic performance of his song “Lookin’ Pretty,” a cute, swoon-worthy ballad, was highly received by the audience, who found it hard not to smile and clap along to the tune.

The Scattertones’ “Always Be My Baby” was one of the highlights of the night and one of the best a capella performances that Spring Sing has seen in the past few years. Dominated by the powerful lead female vocals, “Always Be My Baby” sounded as if it had music behind the singing instead of just harmonized voices. The group won the highly deserved UCLA Prytanean Alumnae Award for Best A Cappella Entry.

“The judging has been really difficult,” said Janice Dickinson, another guest judge known both for her self-proclamation that she was the world’s first supermodel and for her role as judge on the earlier season of America’s Next Top Model. “It’s hard because everyone is so talented.”

““ Michelle Castillo

E-mail Castillo at

mcastillo@media.ucla.edu.

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