IU Sing steering committee revamps past year's themes

IU Sing said goodbye to cheesy jazz hands this year with the theme "Livin' Out Loud." \nThe new theme allows groups to be creative and get real, said senior Katie Hasse, member of the five-person IU Student Foundation steering committee.\nThe event, to be held Feb. 18-19 in the IU Auditorium, gives residence halls, fraternities and sororities a chance to compete against one another by creating a five- to seven-minute skit.\n"IU Sing in the past has had what we call a 'high school prom' kind of feel," said senior Lisa Winternitz, also a member of the committee. "This year it has more of a rock star theme that is more appealing to both genders."\nHasse said with the theme this year students will take the competition to the next level.\n"We tell students this is your act, your stage and your night," she said. "Say what you want to say, get a voice, be different."\nWinternitz said the strategy has worked so far. Superhero, "American Idol" and Time Warp themes, usually common in acts, are not present this year.\nThough 19 of the 22 acts are greek, any student group is welcome to compete. However, the requirement of a minimum of 15 people on stage can be daunting to some smaller groups, Hasse said.\nLast year ROTC won their division and will return this year. Read Center, Forest Quad and Collins Living-Learning Center dormitories are also participating.\nThose who do participate in the event face enormous time commitments, Winternitz and Hasse said.\n"We put in over 40 hours a week," Hasse said. "It's beyond a full-time job. I don't get much sleep."\nWinternitz said song leaders spend at least 15 hours a week practicing and attending meetings.\nTwo song leaders from each organization create, edit, produce and direct their act. Leaders work toward points throughout the year by submitting material and attending meetings. These pre-performance points will be combined with points gained during the show to determine the winner.\nSophomore Kevin Waltz, a song leader for Sigma Chi fraternity, said the time commitment hasn't affected him so far.\n"It hasn't really taken its toll just yet," he said. "I've basically been structuring my days with a time management aspect."\nHowever, after only one official practice, he said he has high hopes for his fraternity and its pair, Alpha Delta Pi.\n"It's going to be a very exciting and entertaining show," he said. "We are going to be very competitive with the other houses."\nProceeds from IU Sing go toward scholarships awarded to 16 of the song leaders.\n"All the song leaders volunteer a lot of time," Winternitz said. "It's nice that some of them will be monetarily rewarded for all they did."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Haley Beck at habeck@indiana.edu.