Singing and dancing will take place center stage, as the 2013 All-Sing competition begins tonight.
All-Sing, as the name implies, is a singing competition between different groups of students. Nine groups will sing songs in the styles of classic musicals, Broadway love songs, music from the 1990s and television theme songs.
The All-Sing competition is coordinated by All Campus Events and is also a part of the ACE Cup Competition. Homecoming, Canricus and Vol Challenge are also part of the competition.
The show starts tonight and Friday at 7 p.m. in the Cox Auditorium of the Alumni Memorial Building.Tickets are on sale now at $10 for UT students with their student ID, $13 for faculty and staff, and $15 for the general public. They can be purchased through http://knoxvilletickets.com.
Erin Dyer is the director-chair for All-Sing. The senior human resource management major has been a part of All-Sing for her entire college career.
“My freshmen and sophomore year I actually participated with All-Sing,” Dyer said. “My junior year I joined ACE so I was backstage for most of it. And then this year, I got elected to be the director-chair of All-Sing.”
She added, “So I’ve been a part of All-Sing for all four years in pretty much every way possible.”
All-Sing traces its roots back to 1932 when it was known as the All-University Sing. Its original purpose was to introduce students to school songs, such as the alma mater. The name was shortened in the 1940s.The theme for this year’s All-Sing is “Let’s Face the Music,” which is a tribute to Irving Berlin’s 1936 song, “Let’s Face the Music and Dance.” Dyer said that she picked the theme to connect All-Sing to its roots as part of Volunteer lore.
“I kind of wanted to bring back that old school tradition,” Dyer said. “So I took a song from the 1930s that’s been used throughout the years by Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and most recently Michael Bublé. I thought it was cool that it’s a song that worked in the 1930s and it’s still relevant today.
“I wanted to use it as a way to tie in All-Sing to the tradition and the history of it.”
The competition is scored on several different aspects.
“They are judged off of vocal performance and clarity as well as overall presentation,” Dyer explained. “In overall presentation, groups aren’t required to do choreography … but every group does tend to do some choreography just because it gives that extra effect.”
A panel of judges decides the winners of the competition. The judges consist of faculty, staff, students and members of the community, including professors from the music department, RAs, faculty from the Multicultural Center and music instructors from local high schools.
One of the competitors to be judged tonight and Friday is Ashley Parker, a senior in communication studies. Parker is competing as a part of the Gamma Sigma Sigma group, the service sorority. Parker said that GSS has competed in All-Sing for years, but her own involvement stems back much further.
“I’ve been singing ever since I was a little kid,” Parker said, “and I’ve been involved for awhile in the UT Women’s Choir.”
In terms of preparation, Parker said that getting ready for All-Sing can be fun but very challenging.
“It’s a lot of work,” she laughed. “We practice a lot. It’s a competition so everybody wants to do their best. We work really hard to put on a good show. But it’s all about fun, too. That’s the whole reason I do it.”
She added, “And the reason that everybody else signed up for it is that it’s bonding time with people in your organization and other organizations and just having a good time.”
Parker is hoping for a GSS win, but she knows that beating out the other groups at All-Sing will be no picnic.
“We try really hard,” Parker said “But it’s always stiff competition … because everybody practices a ton for this. We’ll have to see. All we can really do is try our best and see what the judges think.”
