The sound of laughter echoed through the St. John Paul II Student Center around 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 30.
Although the 16th annual Turner Hall Lip Sync didn’t start until 8:30 p.m., students were already lining up outside the O’Malley-McAllister Auditorium.
The Turner Hall Lipsync is a highly anticipated “alcohol free event” (AFE), where students, as the name suggests, lip sync to popular songs, perform choreography and play mini games for prizes.
At 8 p.m., with the explicit “Please don’t push” warning that everyone ignored, people surged forward. A red raffle ticket was handed to each attendee.
Music blared through the speakers as students waited eagerly for the event to begin, clapping along to Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need” and screaming the lyrics to David Guetta and Sia’s “Titanium”.
At 8:30 p.m., the lights dimmed and the opening introduction video began to play. The hosts, Ricardo Serdan and Jayden Albanez, explained that the event was meant to be fun and encourage safe alcohol use. Short commercials with this theme in mind would be sprinkled throughout the event.
Fr. Mienrad Miller, OSB, opened the event with a prayer. The three judges were then brought on stage: Dr. Sarah Harris, associate professor in the Chemistry and Biochemistry department, Dr. Jamie Blosser, Chair of the Theology department, and Michael Kostick, Co-Chair of the Health, Wellness and Exercise Science department.
The event featured six acts, with the winner chosen through a mix of audience and judge votes.
It was time for the first act. The opening notes for Kpop Demon Hunter’s “Soda Pop” began to play and the crowd erupted. Five students, dressed from head to toe in the iconic Saja Boy’s costume, performed the exact choreography from the movie.
“It was INCREDIBLE! Mind-boggling, blow my socks off, stuck in my head for days,” said Amy Barnett, a student who attended the event.
The second act, performed by the Benedictine College Raven Regiment Drum Line, was a mashup of Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now”, “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Another One Bites the Dust”.
The lights dimmed once again and the audience quieted down. But the silence only lasted for a moment before Serden announced, “The Doorman!” The screaming almost drowned out the music. Jacob Volpe, Benedictine’s campus famous doorman, performed solo choreography to Fall Out Boy’s “Immortals”. At the end of the song, the whole auditorium stood, giving Volpe a standing ovation.
“Let’s go, Doorman!” a voice screamed from the crowd, with many others following suit.
The fourth act was a favorite, at least for Margaret McKinnis, who argued it should have won first place.
A group of students who call themselves “Spicy Ice” performed “Prince Ali” from the Walt Disney movie “Aladdin”, featuring Dean Joseph Wurtz and a mannequin dressed as Princess Jasmine. This act received a standing ovation as well. They took home second place and a $50 Taco Bell gift card.
“I think it topped last year’s performance,” McKinnis said. “They referenced last year’s competition with the guy that came out in a tutu. I loved it!”
The fifth act was performed by an all girl group called “Always Forward” dancing to “One Thing” by One Direction. The move that sent the crowd into cheer was a bicycle stunt where two girls climbed onto the shoulders of five other girls, forming the shape of a make-shift bicycle. This earned them third place and a $25 Daylight Donuts gift card.
The sixth and final act was a group of men calling themselves “Husband Material”, who performed a choreographed dance to RAYE’s “WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!” All dressed in suits, with one member in a Perry the Platypus costume, they won first place and a $100 Pizza Hut gift card.
Finally, it was time to vote. A QR code appeared onto a projector screen for the audience to scan. And the night, as all things at Benedictine do, ended with a prayer. Fr. Mienrad closed the event with the Hail Holy Queen. But not before the audience received a sneak peak of another highly anticipated event: Mr. BC.
