Participation secret key to success

By Mary Williams
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
[email protected]

It’s college and attendance doesn’t count. Except at
Spring Sing.

While the celebrity panel of judges may appear to select the
winners of Spring Sing competitions, the talent show’s
executive committee also heavily factors in a performer’s
attendance to rehearsals and meetings.

“Participation points are weighted, so in the event that
you didn’t attend anything, the odds of you winning are slim
to none,” said Nemika Trotter, the Spring Sing executive
director and a fifth-year communication studies student.

Once an act is chosen to participate in the talent show in
mid-Winter Quarter, its members must attend mandatory meetings,
turn in paperwork and practice at all-show rehearsals.

This quarter there were three rehearsals that involved all of
the acts, where talent directors gave feed back and ensured the
performers were making progress. In addition, each act must give
one hour of work per member to stage set up. Not participating in
these events can seriously damage a performer’s chances at
winning.

“This is a student run production and if you’re not
going to show up and if you’re not going to be there, then
you will pay for it,” said Amelia Chapman-Laver, a talent
director and second-year English student.

All performers in Spring Sing are told when they are accepted
that their overall participation is as important as their
performance the night of competition. Richey Lam, a soloist who
appeared at Spring Sing last year and will again this year, said he
was disqualified the night before the competition because of the
attendance rules.

“I was told I wasn’t going to win, before the show,
(by) the committee, because I didn’t go to this mandatory
dress rehearsal because my parents were in town,” said Lam, a
fourth-year business economics student.

This year’s talent directors said that this kind of
disqualification before the competition was unlikely this year.

“We understand that things happen. If you tell us in
enough time that you’re not going to be there and
you’re not just a no-show then we’ll understand,”
said LaRita Williams, a talent director and a second-year
international development studies student.

Since participation points are factored in so heavily, the best
performer or crowd favorite the night of the show might not
actually win, and the person with the most talent will not
automatically win the talent show.

“In previous years we’ve seen some shocking winners
because of the whole point system they do. People who thought they
were going to win because they were so talented don’t win
because they missed out on rehearsals or didn’t build the
stage,” said Sarah Ziemba, a fourth- year ecology behavior
and evolution student. She competed last year in Awaken A Cappella
and will compete this year in Awaken and the duo Sarah and
Will.

The reason participation points are weighted so heavily, enough
to affect the outcome of the competition, is to ensure that
students continually practice and improve. Three talent directors
are in charge of working with the acts at these meetings, with the
goal of putting on the best show possible for the viewer.

“(Attendance is) just as important as the night of the
show. We have a lot of great acts … but we also have to factor in
the three months of work that they’ve been doing. It has to
weigh accordingly with what they do the night of the show or else
the equality would be off,” Williams said.

While attendance is an important factor, the celebrity judges do
select the best act in each category, and the best overall. Judges
are solicited through organizations like Screen Actors’ Guild
and Pollstar, and do not see the performances before the night of
competition. The votes of any judge who leaves halfway through the
show will not be counted. After the judges make their decision, the
executive committee factors in the participation points.

After the complex judging process, winners are announced at the
end of the night, but many performers felt that it is more
important to focus on performing than winning.

“I don’t care about all that competition
stuff,” Lam said. “I’m just singing.”