You could feel the heat coming from Eastern Michigan University’s Student Center auditorium stage on Thursday night during Alpha Kappa Alpha’s (Xi Chapter) Pretty Girl Mock Rock lip synching contest.
AKA outdid themselves with this event. The effort that was put into the competition was plain to see, from the choreography to the overall organization of the event, the women of AKA brought style and grace to EMU.
The line to attend the contest stretched all the way to the entrance of the student center and every seat in the auditorium was filled.
A’nnessia Gates, one of the AKA organizers, said “I think we could have changed the venue just because I hated turning people away. But for the type of event, an auditorium is the best place.
“Plus our President [Brittany Galloway] does one heck of a job with marketing. Also, being the first and only sorority to advertise via the EMU digital boards were a key help as well,” Gates said.
The performers had to sign up weeks before and rehearse for the show.
“We had an amazing range of talent to grace the stage and to know the performers personally, then see them on stage, they really turned it on for show time,” Gates said.
The event opened with a movie starring the women of AKA, and the bass was bumping as the crowd anxiously awaited the first act. Co-hosts scampered to the center of the stage and gave a silly introduction of the first performer.
A beautiful woman entered the stage in a pink checkered dress and “sang” a Jennifer Hudson song. Her imitation was seamless and her dancing was enthusiastic. She had the audience on the edge of their seats and set the bar high for the rest of the performers.
There were a few golden moments during the array of performances. The audience was seduced by a Chris Brown imitator, doing a provocative version of the song “Sweet Love”. He had the crowd hollering as he stripped off his shirt in between sultry dance moves.
Tanisha Jones, a member of the crowd, particularly enjoyed his performance.
“He moved just like Chris Brown,” Jones said. “If I were judging his performance, I’d give him a perfect 10 just for having a nice body.”
A Brandy impersonator joined in on his routine as well, and they both put on a dynamo performance as they stirred the crowed with their sexy energy. The performers were judged based on four criteria: showmanship, stage presence, creativity and quality of their act.
When all was said and done Thomas Crawford, or Usher, took home first place, Jason Ford took home second with his Marvin Gaye performance of “Let’s Get It On” and third place went to Tiffany Wright for “Fever” by Beyonce. Although there were only three winners, everyone put on a good show.
“There was no one performance I liked the most because I think they all brought something different and I was very pleased with the variety.” Gates Said, “So glad people chose different genres and styles, like we had two Beyonce performers but totally different [styles].”
The show had the right amount of silliness and talent and it brought people together in the spirit of performance and music. From beginning to end was sure entertainment and AKA had put it down for their audience once again.
