The Ultimate Step Sing Recap

Have you missed the action so far in the greatest tradition at Samford University?  Are you going to miss out tonight as well, because you couldn't get tickets?  Fear not, my friends, I will offer a concise but thorough overview of the weekend's performances, from One to Thirteen, and then offer my top three in three or four different categories.

Real quickly, I need to throw a disclaimer on this.  I tried to be very objective in my critiquing, I am not aiming to upset anyone in any shows that I don't speak incredibly highly of.  I'll try to focus on the positive as much as I can.

The show started off with Zeta Tau Alpha's "The Journey Home."  I was blown away by some of the harmonies the Zeta sisters threw out for the audience.  The Wizard Of Oz-themed show was a phenomenal start to Step Sing 2011.

The brothers of Pi Kappa Phi were set to perform next, with "Does It Live."  While not as strong musically as Zeta, Pi Kap's news-themed performance was one of the most entertaining shows of the night.  Fun selections such as "All I Do Is Win " "We Didn't Start The Fire" (with new, more modern lyrics, but it was the same song that helped Sigma Chi win 1990's Sweepstakes), and "The Bed Intruder Song" made this show a delight to watch.

Next up, Phi Mu had a video game theme in their "When Legends Come To Life" show.  Phi Mu's performance, while enjoyable, was not quite up to the par set by the two previous groups.  The vocals were somewhat lacking, and although the execution was good, the choreography was not outstanding.  Seeing several popular video games depicted on stage, though, was fun.

Lambda Chi Alpha was determined to have fun, although their cast for "Shuffles Up Your Day" was significantly smaller in comparison to Zeta, Pi Kap, and Phi Mu.  The choreography was very poorly executed, but the energy was incredibly apparent.

The first independent, and co-ed, group of the night was University Ministries.  UM opened with an out-of-this-world acapella of "Dear Old Shiz" from Wicked, modified to fit Hogwarts.  I said that Zeta's harmonies blew me away, UM singing this song without any instrumentals knocked me into another dimension that has not yet been discovered.  It was that powerful.  As far as the rest of the show, it was entertaining, very musically pleasing, and visually sound.  Closing with the opening bars of "The Mysterious Ticking Noise" from the infamous "Potter Puppet Pals" youtube video, UM's performance immediately topped my list.

Poor Alpha Omicron Pi, having to follow UM's fantastic "In The Potter's Hands" show.  Nevertheless, AOPi had a very solid "Won't You Be My Neighbor" performance.  I enjoyed AO's sequence, and equally enjoyed spotting probably a dozen familiar faces among the performers.  I feel the music could have included more harmonies, and the show didn't quite measure up to the first two performances of the night.

After the intermission, Sigma Chi presented the first show of the second half, "The Organization."  Taking the audience through a series of events within the Mob, Sigma Chi's show was full of wonderful moments, musically, choreographically, and plot-wise.  But nothing I saw at Step Sing on Friday night could compare to the end of the Sigma Chi show.  It was an absolute had-to-be-there moment, it can't be described to someone who has not seen it.  At least, I can't.  All I can say is that it was an insanely powerful testament to what a little faith and determination can do.

The Freshman Ladies were next.  "Shooting Stars" was their show about the pressures of fame.  This wonderful group of girls with which I will be going to school for the next three and a half years showed that they were indeed rookies to the Step Sing stage, but for such a large conglomeration of first-timers they did a fantastic job.  They certainly had an enjoyable show, even if it wasn't top-notch.

I had great expectations for Dudes A Plenty, the reigning Sweepstakes champs.  "Grandpas" really didn't disappoint, but it wasn't championship-caliber.  There were still three shows in the first half that I had rated above Dudes at this point, and Sigma Chi's show from the second act I felt was better.  It was certainly great entertainment, though, and the quality of the choreo and music was great.  My criticism on DAP is not that they weren't good, just that they weren't good enough.

The Artistic Activity Alliance was small, but I enjoyed their debut Step Sing performance, "Saturday Morning Showdown."  My buddy and JMC 201 project partner Alek Pike did a great job of putting together AAA's inaugural Step Sing show.  It brought me back to the Saturday morning cartoons of the past, although I could've enjoyed it more with a certain few different song selections to more reflect my cartoon interests.  Nonetheless, if the AAA picks up some more folks for next year's show, they could soon be a force to be reckoned with.

Alpha Delta Pi's "It's Time for a Change," despite suggesting liberal propaganda, was a Transformers-based show.  This had some of the best choreography of this year's Step Sing, but too much backing track music and not enough singing.  The song selections were very theme-appropriate, though, and were great selections by my opinion and tastes.  Probably half of these selections, however, deserved MUCH better vocal arrangements and harmonies.  Despite my musical yearnings not being met, ADPi had a good show this year.

Penultimately, the Independent Ladies showed us how to "Get Intense" (read "in-tents") with a summer-camp theme.  The Indies brought some great energy, music selection, and choreography with their performance.  The harmonies were unbalanced in a couple of spots, but were definitely there.  Singing the beginning of the chorus to Michael W. Smith's "Friends," the Independents nearly brought me to tears.  They did a great job of relating to feelings and emotions with their show.  I was highly impressed.

The Babes in Toyland of Chi Omega presented "Imagine That."  I had a hard time imagining how Chi O's song selections all fit together, and with their theme.  None of the music and choreography really related to the toys come to life story, and the ending was abrupt.

My picks are as follows:

Music, to me the most important quality (Includes Song Selection and Musicality, among other things):
3. Independent Ladies
2. Sigma Chi
1. UM
Honorable Mention: Zeta, AAA


Overall Entertainment
3. UM
2. Dudes
1. Pi Kappa Phi
Honorable Mention:  Independent Ladies, Sigma Chi


Most Energy
3. UM
2. Pi Kappa Phi
1. Independent Ladies
Honorable Mention:  Zeta, Dudes


And now, from 13 to 1, I give the worst and best shows in this year's Step Sing:
13. Lambda Chi- They went there and had a good time.  But they could've put more effort into their show.
12. AAA- AAA needs some growth, so that mistakes aren't as noticeable and vocals are stronger.
11. Phi Mu- Need to pick a better theme, so that there's not so much instrumental music and more singing.
10. Chi Omega- Need to relate to theme more.  Show would've been much better if it were coherent.
9. ADPi- Stop flashing your gang symbols at every possible moment, it might help the overall quality.
8. AOPi- Good, but not outstanding.
7. Freshman Ladies- Great effort by first-time performers
6. Zeta- Energy and music set the bar which was only beaten by a handful
5. Dudes-A-Plenty- Probably lower than most would have them, but like I said, great but not better than four others.  For the third time in six years, no repeat for DAP.
4. Pi Kappa Phi- Very entertaining show.  Looking back 21 years and taking from a past champion a nice touch, especially when they did a little modification and modernization.
3. Independent Ladies- I originally had them in the first-runner up slot, but further comparison with the other runner-up was not beneficial for the Indies.  Still a fantastic show.
2. Sigma Chi- Fantastic show by the brothers of Sigma Chi.  They didn't let their recent probation affect their performance, just like Ryan Penney didn't let a car crash affect his contributing to the show.
1. UM- Matt Taylor is a genius.  Harry Potter is a win.  Shiloh's going to be awesome on Tuesday.  UM brings home the sweepstakes title for the first time in 36 years.

Well, here's the recap.  We'll know in about three hours how right I am, and what all I've gotten wrong.  In the meantime, those of you that saw the dress rehearsal on Wednesday, or the show for the first two nights, what do you think?  Who's your favorite?  Comment below!