Concord University hosted a lip sync battle on Wednesday, April 13, at 9:00 p.m. as a part of a week of festivities that culminated with the second annual Blues, Brews, and Barbeque on Friday, April 15. Donations were encouraged for the food pantry as the lip sync battle began.
Over the course of one hour, students gave it their absolute all in an effort to win the grand prize. Master of Ceremonies and South Chicago native, Michael Isaac, began by asking each competitor their name, their academic year, their major, their hometown, and what they would be singing for the men and women of the audience. There were many different artists that students lip synced to during this competition; everything from Shania Twain to Eminem, and from The Talking Heads to the most famous Disney music.
The audience beamed and applauded with each passing contestant. Included were students such as Aleisha Drafton, who wowed the audience with her lip sync of “If You Like it Then You Should Have Put a Ring On It” by Beyonce’ Knowles, and Jordan Tuck, with his exaggerated sync of the award-winning “Let It Go” from the Disney film “Frozen.” People were so entranced by the fun the performers seemed to have up on the stage that two employees from Subway, with permission from their employers, came up and sang, as well.
After all participants finished their performances, Isaac introduced them yet again for the final vote to determine who would win the prizes. He asked the audience to applaud loudly for who they wanted to win. Whoever got the loudest applause would get the prizes. The audience screamed so loud for their favorites that, between the screaming and the bass of the speakers, more than a few people probably went temporarily deaf. In any case, by the time the audience had finished cheering, there were only five contestants left standing, resulting in a tie breaker round.
The five that remained did their absolute best to lip sync to the songs that they had chosen. This would no doubt have proven difficult for some, as the songs were selected merely moments before the tie breaker round began. Once the dust had settled and once all was said and done, there were three winners. In third place and winning 30 dollars, the audience chose Aleisha Drafton. Jordan Tuck took second place and 50 dollars. Finally, the grand prize of 100 dollars was given to Brad Gibson.
In addition to all of this, there was a raffle won by Maizy Landreth, who received approximately 100 dollars in gift cards. With all of this, it is clear that Concord knows how to have fun as well as help those in need.