More than 200 students congregated at Century Park South to see the Luckyday Lip Sync Battle on Sept. 29. By the time the show started, it was standing room only, and there were still people left in the hallway looking through the window.
The event, coordinated by the Luckyday Leadership Team, served the purpose of connecting students with on-campus organizations. The competing groups included members from Honors College Ambassadors, the Residence Hall Association (RHA), Student Government Association (SGA), Student Eagle Club, the African American Student Organization (AASO) and the National Pan- Hellenic Council (NPHC).
Kayla Hubbard, sophomore kinesiology major, and Kawan Jefferson, sophomore communicationsmajor,servedas the two hosts of the show.
“We are going to try to give more background about the teams so that the students can know more about them,” Hubbard said. “We want to connect everybody.” The hosts introduced each team to the stage with a description of what the organization is and the things they accomplish on campus.
“Some students are intimidated by prestigious organizations, so this will give them an opportunity to see them on a more personal level and maybe get some students involved,” Jefferson said. “They need to feel welcome to do these kinds of things at Southern Miss too.”
The six campus organizations competingforthetitleoflipsync champions were evaluated by a table of judges, but students also had a say. The audience could vote for the organization they enjoyed the most by posting a picture on Instagram with a specific hashtag. One of the judges was Michael Dixon, executive director of Extra Table in Hattiesburg.
“I’m going to be judging on how convincing they are,” Dixon said. “We will pay attention to style, originality, and whether or not they are in sync. We are going to be tough on them.”
At the end of the show, the judges voted for the team they decided performed best and awarded them with a golden microphone. The Student Choice Award would go to the team with the most hashtags on Instagram.
Before determining a winner, the judges narrowed down the choice to two teams. RHA and the Honors College Ambassadors were featured in the final round going head-to-head with follow-up performances. RHA was first in Instagram votes after a dramatic rendition of “Contagious” by the Isley Brothers, followed by the Honors College Ambassadors in close second after they opened the show with a comical performance of “White and Nerdy” by Weird Al Yankovic.
RHA won the Student Choice Award and the Lip Sync Champion trophy when they stole the final round with a Michael Jackson mash-up.
Tiara Ellis, sophomore biology major, was part of the audience.
“RHA won because they went old school,” Ellis said. “They chose songs everyone knows the lyrics to and the Michael Jackson part was the icing on the cake.”
Ellis thought the show was a great idea and is definitely supportive of the event happening again.
“It was nice seeing a bit of friendly competition between the organizations,” Ellis said. “I would come see this if Luckyday did this event again, but next time they need a bigger venue to fit all the people.”
The turnout was much larger than expected, and the audience maintained great supportive energy that kept the show going. Many diverse groups were represented at the show, even non-competing hip- hop dance groups Rhythm Rush and Chaotic Movement brought in for an intermission. The lip-sync battle not only exposed students to what opportunities are available on campus, but also brought them together to meet new friends and have a fun experience.
