Lip Sync for Your Life!

This JanTerm, students lip-synced for their lives in an epic lip sync battle hosted by Baker Hall!

The three judges who determined the evening’s winners include Jimmy Wilkins, area coordinator for Baker Hall and The Hass Villages on Grand; junior Braden Walthall; and sophomore Andy Hernandez.
Sophomore Harrison Vickmark entertained faculty and students throughout the two-hour event, opening the night with his lip-synced cover of Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er Boi”. Harrison became “scooter boy” as he rode around in his scooter for his performance, raising the level of expectations for the rest of the night’s participants!
Next up were The Aussies, a girl group featuring Alex Fry, Sylvia Sit, Allie Straeck, Alexandra Baker-Livingston, and Rayanne Seymour, with a choreographed routine to the “Good as Hell” Lizzo and Ariana Grande collaboration.
Freshman Antony K rocked n’ rolled his yellow beanie off to Poppy’s “Concrete,” with an extra amount of hair-flipping that enlivened his performance and had the whole room rooting for him!
Fellow freshman Rhett Cassan lost his glasses at the beginning of his performance as he jammed to Foreigner’s “Jukebox Hero,” but he clearly didn’t need them. He mastered the air guitar and captured the audience’s attention.
Other performers included freshmen Natalia Nevarez and Cecily Sims with “Take a Hint” from the Nickelodeon show Victorious. Another freshman (step it up, upperclassmen!) takes the stage–this time, Enrique Pineda with Hamilton‘s “You’ll Be Back”. After nearly losing his footing on a table, he recovers and prompts Harrison to take the mic afterward and advise students to stay off the tables.
The second girl group of the night, The One Direction Team, consisted of junior Nadia Hannon and freshmen Timarea Kimbrough, Siran Berberian, and Janet Salazar. This all-female quartet performed “Baby Shark” with all the iconic moves! Thanks for getting that song stuck in our heads!
Sophomore (finally!!) Lizzie Gibson brought students back to their Disney Channel days with the song “Determinate” from the 2011 film Lemonade Mouth.

Harrison returned for some midnight entertainment with “Mr. Blue Sky” by Electric Light Orchestra, showcasing confidence and a love of life.
Other performers of the night included freshmen Monica Rodriges Cordova with Rihanna’s “Russian Roulette” and Ben Morales-Knight with Divinyls’ “I Touch Myself”.
Antony K returned with passion and an air guitar solo for Green Day’s “21 Guns”.
The night’s first trio brought back to the stage Natalia, Cecily, and Ben with Fergie’s 2006 hit “Fergalicious”.
Rhett is back (and so are his glasses!) with Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing”, followed by freshman David Pelayo with The Champs’ “Tequila”. This hyped up the audience!
Tequila! 
Harrison teased the usual baseball crew that plays pool by the stage to get up and sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”, but pretty soon the audience chanted for A.J. Pritchard to lip-sync the classic song. And he does–with a pool stick! Tons of phones light up the Pouch Club, and it was a show-stopping performance!
The audience welcomed back Enrique with a head-bopping lip-sync cover to “Chelsea Dagger” by The Fratellis. Later, junior and the Observer‘s own Baylor Thornton brought passion with “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” by My Chemical Romance.

After Baylor, came a second trio–junior Evan Powell and freshmen Kiara Bilberry and Kaitlyn Malone–tackling Drake’s “Madiba Riddim”.
Sophomore Davis Madole became “Iron Man” with his lip-sync version of Black Sabbath’s heavy metal song, which was succeeded by a group of six covering a Glee-style mashup of Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” and Blondie’s “One Way or Another”. Very creative!
A.J. returned to put his soul into “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” by The Darkness, and so did The Queen’s Parody, a quartet featuring Rhett, Antony, Monica, and Enrique lip-syncing to “Bohemian Rhapsody”.
Next are a sophomore and another Observer member Vivianna Denittis and junior Maggie Davis with Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream”!
Another group performs “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell before A.J., Rhett, Evan, and the judges lip-sync to “YMCA” by Village People. And the rumors are true–Jimmy flossed perhaps for the first and last time.
The judges determined the three finalists, but the audience chose the winner. By applause, first place went to Baylor! Lizzie won second. Natalia, Cecily, and Ben placed third.
The night was a success! Jimmy gave me the idea that I should participate in the lip sync battle, so I can include the experience in my article. Never say never, but for now congratulations to all who participated in Baker Hall’s event!
Great job everyone