So You Think You Can Sing?

The sounds of A$AP Rocky, the broadway show Annie and everything in-between blasted through Agora last Friday in the patchwork fun of Karaoke Night. Students came to show off their skilled singing talents and entertain the crowd. 

Prep Gustavo Santos participated in the event and commented on the welcoming atmosphere and the students’ willingness to sing, especially during some of the silences.

“It had a warm atmosphere and was mainly inhibited by preps, although a couple uppers really started it off after an awkward hesitation period,” Santos said.

During the event, performers on stage were full of energy. Just as many dance moves were shown off on the stage as were shown by the audience.

“All the people that were there seemed to having a great time,” prep Jena Yung said. “Everyone got really into the songs. They were singing along and dancing on stage.”

Not all of the students were musically gifted, but that didn’t stop them from going up. Modern language instructor Viviana Santos chaperoned the event and explained how difficult karaoke can prove.

“It was a Karaoke Night—students sing along the song lyrics without the benefit of someone else singing along—all they have is the soundtrack to accompany them,” she said. “It's harder than it seems.”

Despite this difficulty, all who came enjoyed the event, although there seemed to be less people at this Karaoke Night then at some of the other ones in the past. Only 30 to 50 students flowed in throughout the night.

“It never really got started, and the performances were sparse,” prep Raul Galvan said. “The seats were barely half filled. I guess that the people that performed had a good time with it, but it's sad when people don't go to events like this.”

One of the reasons for the lack of attendance may have stemmed from the lack of students on campus this weekend. With Easter, many students had gone home for the weekend to visit family or were busy with religious ceremonies.

Gustavo Santos also believes the advertising for the event could have focused less on musical talents and more on painting the picture that Karaoke Night is just a fun social event.

“If its advertised as an event that is just for fun and you don't have to be able to sing it might attract more people. Also advertising popular songs that you can choose from might help,” he said.

Viviana Santos saw the event as a way to escape the burden of work at Exeter for a night and hopes more students will show up at the next event.

“As with many weekend activities I would love to see students come out and have fun!” she said. “This is a high stress environment and activities like this one could be a great stress reliever!"