Spring it on

By Dharshani Dharmawardena

Daily Bruin Contributor

Friday night, students from across campus gathered together to
celebrate a UCLA musical tradition.

Spring Sing 2000 began at the Los Angeles Tennis Center with a
mixture of 1980s music transformed into lyrics describing current
campus life.

This year’s Spring Sing Company, which performed between
acts, introduced the year’s theme of comical life at UCLA by
singing to the tunes of such classics as Footloose.

Making fun of the ongoing rivalry with USC, last-minute
finals’ crunch time and online book sellers, the company
entertained the audience with witty performances and songs written
by students Alan Gordon, Barry McLaughlin and Alon Ziv.

In their opening act, the Company encouraged the audience with
the line, “It’s a great show because it’s better
than sex.”

Last February, more than 70 acts auditioned for the Spring Sing
production. With 19 acts performing in five categories including
exhibition, band, duet, production, a cappella and solo, the show
provided audiences with three hours of musical entertainment.

Various stars, including Thora Birch of “American
Beauty,” Matthew Lawrence of “Boy Meets World,”
and “Mr. Belding,” Dennis Haskins, as well as UCLA
management professor David Ravetch, stood as judges for the event.
They awarded points for such aspects as vocal quality, performance,
execution, stage presence and overall participation.

Divided into two acts, the program played host to and gave the
opportunity to a variety of students to express their musical and
artistic talent.

In the first half, the Duet Infinite Ames sang the Dave Matthews
song “#41,” dedicating the melody to a friend living
far away.

Under flashing red, yellow, purple and orange lights, bands like
Flat Planet and Shoreline strummed their guitars to an audience
exploding with applause.

In Act Two, the band Barely Manilow, which won the UCLA Las
Doñas Award for best band entry, gave a rendition of
“Copacabana.”

With a come-hither look and drunken stagger, Lola, the
song’s ill-fated heroine, danced to the rhythm the story sung
by the lead singers.

Winning came as a surprise for some like Budi Iskandar, a UCLA
extension student, of The B-Team, which won the Rose Bowl Bruins
Award for best duet entry.

“We did a totally different take on the subject,”
Iskandar said. “It was surreal to win.”

Sororities and fraternities, which originally began the Spring
Sing tradition, also performed productions that reflected the humor
of living in Westwood.

Delta Delta Delta paired up with Pi Kappa Alpha in their
production called “15 Minutes of Fame.” Tri-delt girls,
clad in yellow pants, and their Pike companions danced away to
music inspired by Britney Spears and Vanilla Ice, and captured the
UCLA Affiliates Award for best production entry.

At the intermission, Judith Komuves, executive director of
Spring Sing 2000, introduced this year’s Spring Sing Gershwin
Award Winner, Frank Sinatra.

Former winners have included Angela Lansbury, Ella Fitzgerald
and Ray Charles.

Tina Sinatra, accepting the award for her late father, became
emotional as she spoke to the audience.

“I got weepy ““ it sneaks up on you,” Sinatra
said.

“I thank you from the bottom of our hearts for remembering
him,” she added, speaking for her family members.

In her speech, Sinatra said that future generation will remember
Sinatra through students who listen to his music today. She also
encouraged students to spend time with their parents.

Among the many awards given out this year included the most
prestigious, the Northern California Alumni Grand Sweepstakes
Award, which went to Sara Bareilles for her solo performance.

For many participants of Spring Sing, practice for the program
started at the beginning of winter quarter.

Lorie Diaz, a second-year physiological sciences student, danced
in the swing group Suede Shoes, which competed in the exhibition
category.

Diaz and members of her group, who have some previous experience
in swing dancing, practiced for three hours a week to perfect their
act.

“I think what really helped was going out to the
clubs,” she said.

During the months of practicing, Diaz said she became better
friends with the members of her own group, and she also got the
chance to meet and befriend members of other ensembles.

“We became a family behind the scenes,” Diaz
said.

Despite the large audience gathered to watch Spring Sing, Diaz
said she felt little anxiety.

“I think we were more excited,” she said. “It
was one of those things where we were going to go out there and
have fun.”