Fri., Sept. 29, Concordia students and staff danced the night away at Eagles’ Landing for the HUNT’s lip sync battle and silent disco night. It was a night to remember, and the energy was electric. 

There were performances to Bruno Mars, Pitbull, Shakira and Taylor Swift. All are musical icons that our students had a blast imitating, but only a select few performances could win. The winner was decided by Mrs. Monique Nunez, the Diversity Equity and Inclusion coach, who would ensure that all was fair in lip sync and war. 

The campus involvement groups made their debut as each entered into the lip sync battle with show-stopping performances. The RAs stormed the stage, ready to take on the nearly impossible task of lip-syncing to Tswizzle's “Shake It Off.”

Miles Gunnet, RA, said, “I was not nervous to perform because I think I was born to be on a stage, but I was a little nervous to make sure the dance went together because we only rehearsed once.” 

ASCUI Senate also made an appearance that gave the audience a glimpse of Africa through their performance of “Waka Waka” by Shakira. Jynelle Contreras, attendee and performer, said, “I really enjoyed watching ASCUI doing ‘Waka Waka,’ such a throwback!”

The performances were phenomenal, but only two could take home the gold, and of course, both of the winning performances used the one and only Bruno Mars to secure the win. The PALs, Peer Advising Leaders, performed to “Treasure,” and Frankie Ibanez braved a solo act with the courage of Mars’ “Finesse” for his performance. 

Ibanez shared some insight on his finesse. “My performance was all about having a type of ‘drip’ style whenever around a special someone. I tried to make movements that were based off of old hip-hop and improvised it at the last minute with certain parts of the lyrics.” He was a little nervous, being the only solo act, but he said, “In the end, I just went with the flow and popped off with what I had.” 

The PALs took a different route with the group routine and with moves that were inspired by group members Emily Rivas and Jynelle Contreras. Contreras said that as soon as the group decided on the song, “I immediately started thinking of ideas for the group to do on stage. I knew I wanted Bruno and a love interest as the main characters, along with backup dancers.” 

McKing Nguyen, PAL, explained the performance in short. He said, “Our performance tells a story about Bruno trying to win over a girl's heart, but she keeps rejecting him, and eventually, she gives in, and we all dance together!” 

Gabriel Lucero portrayed Bruno Mars, and this weight was almost too much to bear, but he knew he had to do Mars justice. He said, “When I found out we were the last act, I was overwhelmed with nerves. It wasn't until we were called up to the stage that the excitement took over and pushed the nerves away.” 

The night ended well for all Bruno Mars performers and all of those who attended the lip sync battle because the fun continued immediately after with silent disco. 

Lucero said, “It was my second time attending the silent disco, and I have to say it was just as fun as I remembered. When you aren't listening to the music with your peers, it's easy to think they're crazy, but once you put on those headphones for yourself, you realize you can't stop moving either.” 

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