A sea of energy flooded nearly at-capacity bleachers of the Fieldhouse Arena and dubstep and techno music filled the air as the homecoming week Lip Sync event’s three judges, former Grand Valley State University graduates, took their seats.

Just over a dozen teams from Greek life and Housing divisions participated in the annual homecoming event, each with a six-minutes-or-less dance and lip-syncing routine performed to their own CD mixes of popular songs and/or nautical-themed music. You could feel the music shake the walls and resound through your torso as it blasted from the speakers.

Whether it was the multi-culturally influenced dance moves of Bros, Boats, and Bows to songs like Shakira’s “Waka Waka” or Anchors Away’s surfing themed “I Get Around” by The Beach Boys, the first few performances had the crowd cheering, singing along, and dancing along.

“I heard (Lip Sync) was a lot of fun,” said Anchors Away member Emily Boehm, who joined a week before the event. “I love to dance and be goofy. (Participating) was really one of those ‘why not?’ moments.”

Despite long hours of practice multiple times a week, dancers were still nervous.

“I was freaking out before performing, especially since we were the first to go, and my roommate, Emily, and I were the first ones to be on stage dancing,” said Caitlyn Albrant, also a member of Anchors Away. “Once I was on stage and the song started I completely forgot about everything but the dance moves. I remember hearing people screaming though and that made me feel better about the performance.”

Holding third place was Southern Tide, with the Top Siders and S.S. Boatwood on the tides of Tuscola coming in at a tie for second place. Sailors and Kaptains took first place in the competition.

“I loved working with the people on my team,” Albrant said. “They were all great and made it a blast. And they were all cooperative and brought their own creative ideas into play.”

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