Written by Blake Matthews
Spring Sing 2009 came to a close Saturday, with social clubs TNT and Zeta Rho sweeping the awards ceremony.
TNT and Zeta Rho have traditionally partnered up to produce a Spring Sing show. Their show this year, “Lines, Fiber, Grey Hair, Oh My!”, won first place in the music, visual, staging and entertainment categories. The clubs also won the John H. Ryan Sweepstakes Award, making them the overall winners of Spring Sing 2009.
A twist on this year’s theme of “Juvenescence,” TNT and Zeta Rho dressed up as senior citizens living in a retirement home. Though bent over and wrinkled, the club members danced, sang and raced wheelchairs in an effort to, according to the official program, “celebrate life’s little quirks and changes with childlike hearts.”
The John H. Ryan Sweepstakes Award also comes with a $1,000 prize, which will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Association on behalf of TNT and Zeta Rho. Each Spring Sing group was performing to benefit a charity or organization.
TNT member Jacob Brown said that, even though the audience reacted positively to each performance of his show, he was not sure that his club would win.
“All of a sudden, we heard our names, and it was wild,” he said. “We couldn’t believe it.”
Zeta Rho member Liz Bryan said she “immediately broke into tears.” She calmed herself down on stage, she said, but the thought of “Disneyworld” kept coming up with each win.
The defending Spring Sing winners, Ju Go Ju and Ko Jo Kai, placed fourth overall, out of the six groups total. Their show took on a 1950s theme this year, with poodle skirts, waitresses on roller skates and a motorcycle-riding Elvis.
Ju Go Ju members Lauren Binford said she wished her club would have ranked higher, but reiterated that Spring Sing was about raising money for charity and enjoying the experience.
“That’s the main prize: just to have fun with it,” she said.
The one category that Zeta Rho and TNT did not win was the Spirit Award, a trophy given to the group with the most “Christ-like spirit during the process and production,” Spring Sing director Dr. Steve Frye said. The award was given based on votes from club directors, crew members and other Spring Sing staff.
This year’s winner of the Spirit Award was the “Get Fired Up!!!” show, whose members include Chi Sigma Alpha, Regina, OEGE and Omega Lambda Chi. Chi Sigma Alpha member Jonathan Stein said that his group focused on acting with respect towards the backstage crew and following orders when given. Although he and the others knew about the Spirit Award, he said, they were not actively pursuing it.
“We just did what we should always be doing,” Stein said.
The clubs were reviewed by a panel of experienced judges, all of which attended or worked for Harding in the past. The judges graded the performances on things like humor, facial expressions, make-up design and story-telling lyrics. According to producer Cindee Stockstill, who was in the room with the judges, the grading process was done silently on individual ballots. None of the nine judges were available for comment.
Frye announced that next year’s Spring Sing will have an “international” theme.
WINNERS BY CATEGORY:
Visuals3rd Runner Up – Iota Chi, Gamma Sigma Phi and Pi Theta Phi2nd Runner Up – Ju Go Ju and Ko Jo Kai1st Runner Up – Chi Omega Pi and Delta Gamma RhoWinner – TNT and Zeta Rho
Music3rd Runner Up – Ju Go Ju and Ko Jo Kai2nd Runner Up – Chi Sigma Alpha, Regina, OEGE, Omega Lambda Chi1st Runner Up – Iota Chi, Gamma Sigma Phi and Pi Theta PhiWinner – TNT and Zeta Rho
Staging3rd Runner Up – Ju Go Ju and Ko Jo Kai2nd Runner Up – Chi Omega Pi and Delta Gamma Rho1st Runner Up – Chi Sigma Alpha, Regina, OEGE, Omega Lambda ChiWinner – TNT and Zeta Rho
Entertainment3rd Runner Up – Tie between Ju Go Ju/Ko Jo Kai and Chi Sigma Alpha/Regina/OEGE/Omega Lambda Chi2nd Runner Up – Iota Chi, Gamma Sigma Phi and Pi Theta Phi1st Runner Up – Chi Omega Pi and Delta Gamma RhoWinner – TNT and Zeta Rho
Spirit AwardWinner – Chi Sigma Alpha, Regina, OEGE, Omega Lambda Chi
John H. Ryan Sweepstakes Award3rd Runner Up – Ju Go Ju and Ko Jo Kai2nd Runner Up – Iota Chi, Gamma Sigma Phi and Pi Theta Phi1st Runner Up – Chi Omega Pi and Delta Gamma RhoWinner – TNT and Zeta Rho
