Showing off Homecoming Pride at Lip Sync

Who doesn’t love a good dance battle?

Well, how about a lip sync dance battle?

MSU students filled up the Bresnan Arena Friday for MSU’s annual lip sync battle, Homecoming week’s most popular event. Several organizations competed and danced their hearts out to win the cherished first-place trophy. 

In the midst of the battle, the coronation was also in effect as the Homecoming Royalty court was greatly supported by the competing teams for representing them and were even involved in the performances. 

Many of the teams included music from famous comic-book films’ soundtracks to their performances due to this year’s homecoming theme being Mavericks: Endgame. 

Homecoming Chair Bethel Gebregiorgis was in charge of planning several Homecoming events throughout the week including the battle and explained the process of planning the 12-year old tradition. 

“We had to make sure that all the competition teams were registered and all set and good to go. And we had a kind of a hard time choosing the order for the lip sync because there were royalties, performing and kind of settling that. It was hectic, but it was fun for sure.” Gebregiorgis said. 

The scoring rubric was based on overall performance, originality, choreography, lip syncing at all times, correlation to the homecoming theme and knowledge of the song lyrics. All these components determined which team won first, second and third place. 

Gebregiorgis discussed how the Student Events Teams selected the judges for the competition. 

“We usually select judges that have a lot of involvement on campus, know the students in one way or another, and kind of have the experience of being a lip sync judge overall,” Gebregiorgis said. “It was a really, kind of obvious decision for us. And the one new thing we did this year was we bought two alumni royalties, one from Student Events Team, actually.”

Homecoming week is all about celebrating Maverick pride among the student community with Gebregiorgis saying the lip sync battle gives “the competition teams a chance to express themselves.”

“You can be on campus and showing spirit and regarding the homecoming theme, but the lip sync is where all the competition teams actually shine and show their creativity and all aspects of their performances. So I believe that for a homecoming tradition, lip sync is probably one of the critical points of that.” 

Overall, Gebregiorgis shares how the lip sync battle helps bring students together as one big MSU community. 

“I would say the first obvious part is the preparation. The teams that compete go through the process of recruiting, preparing, and overall, bring the campus community together to perform one big performance,” Gebregiorgis said. “So I would say one part is going to be the overall community involvement, and kind of bringing all the judges from all aspects of the departments together, and actually having them sit in one event, I believe, is a very beautiful thing to see. Everybody is on campus, just there and having fun.”

Many of the teams included music associated with famous comic-book films such as Marvel and DC to their performances due to this year’s homecoming theme being Mavericks: Endgame. 

After a night of unforgettable performances, Mavsians had reigned once again as the battle’s winners while royalty candidates Edward Nguyen and Kalina Vandeputte were crowned Homecoming king and queen. 

Nguyen shared how it felt to be named Homecoming king and to now represent the student body, saying “It’s an incredible honor and a unique experience.”

“It often feels like a celebration of school spirit and community. Representing the student body brings a sense of pride and responsibility, as you get to embody the values and traditions of your school. I did feel a mix of excitement and nervousness, especially during events and parades,” Nguyen said. “But there’s also joy in connecting with fellow students and alumni. It’s a chance to be a role model and inspire others, while also creating lasting memories and friendships. It’s a fulfilling experience that allows you to contribute to the culture of your school.”

Nguyen also participated in the battle with his fraternity Alpha Sigma Chi and shared how preparation for the event was like for everyone. 

“Preparing for the lip sync battle was a lot of fun. My fraternity paired up with a sorority and getting the slow introduction to a bunch of new people is always fun. It started off with making a plan of what times and days of the week that we could all get together and practice,” Nguyen said. “I myself am not a dancer so I was having a rough time preparing, however, due to the duo of Hailey Elmhorst and Abby Cano, they broke up the dances into very easy steps and made sure everyone could succeed.” 

Photo Caption: Several campus organizations competed and danced at MSU’s annual lip sync battle, Homecoming week’s most popular event, at the Bresnan Arena Friday night. (Nate Tilahun/The Reporter) 

Write to Anahi Zuniga at anahi.zuniga@mnsu.edu