UCLA Spring Sing
| Spring Sing | |
|---|---|
 Spring Sing 2009 at UCLA |
|
| Abbreviation | SS |
| Motto | UCLA's oldest and greatest musical tradition |
| Formation | 1945 |
| Type | student-operated |
| Purpose/focus | To unite the UCLA community by promoting artistic talent |
| Headquarters | UCLA |
| Location | Los Angeles Tennis Center Westwood, Los Angeles, California |
| Region served | Greater UCLA Community |
| Executive Director | Kevin Yang |
| Affiliations | UCLA Student Alumni Association, UCLA Alumni Association |
| Website | http://www.uclalumni.net/springsing/ |
Spring Sing is UCLA's oldest and greatest musical tradition, an annual music competition held in May at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion. The competition brings together UCLA students to perform as solo artists, duets, bands, and a cappella groups in front of an audience of over 7,000 UCLA students, alumni, faculty, staff and celebrity judges.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] The Early Years
The competition began in 1945 under the direction of William Ackerman. It began with only 11 groups and was performed on campus at UCLA's Royce Hall. In the beginning years, the competition was composed mainly of fraternity singing groups, serenading their sorority counterparts. The first of these groups to win the competition was a barbershop quartet from the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.
[edit] Glory Days
During the 1950s and 1960s, the competition grew quickly and outgrew Royce Hall. It was then, that Spring Sing gained its popularity and notoriety within the Los Angeles area, as it moved to the Hollywood Bowl. During these years, up to 15,000 Bruins, family, friends, and locals witnessed the competition each year. Also added to the mix were celebrity judges and masters of ceremonies - including Ronald Reagan in 1952.
[edit] Return to Prominence
The competition peaked in the late 60's and took an 8 year hiatus during the 70's when student and alumni interest revived the event (on campus this time) in 1978. In 1986, the UCLA Student Alumni Association took over the event and moved the event to the Los Angeles Tennis Center in 1989, eventually returning the competition back to its previous glory.
[edit] Today
Today, the competition has expanded from its original version of fraternity singing groups, to over 15 artists grouped in 6 different categories (Solo, Duet, A Cappella, Band, Production, Exhibition). Each category (save Exhibition) is judged and a winner is selected for each (from which an overall winner is chosen to receive the "Northern California Alumni Grand Sweepstakes Award").
In addition to the talent aspect of Spring Sing today, the overall production has been turned into entertainment with the inception of the Company - a group of UCLA students who perform skits, songs and parodies in between each act as a way of introducing the next act. According to their website, they are "a group of the most hilarious and creative people on this campus who live for the spotlight and the opportunity to make an audience crack up."[1]
Past performers from Spring Sing include: Grammy nominated members of Maroon 5, who were defeated in 2000 by Barely Manilow, Tyrone Wells, and Grammy-nominated singer Sara Bareilles. Bareilles won Spring Sing twice, in 2002 and 2003. In 2006, Mikey G and Dan from Danville won the award for best duet and Best Overall Entry. In 2007, Jarell Perry and the Ambassadors won the Las Doñas Award for Best Band Entry. Katie Boeck won the Mortar Board Award for Best Solo Entry and the Northern California Alumni Grand Sweepstakes Award for the Best Overall Entry in 2007, 2008, and 2009. Nasim Pedrad (Saturday Night Live) was a member of the Spring Sing Company in 2003.
Since its revival, Spring Sing was held at UCLA's Los Angeles Tennis Center, but due to the overwhelming demand and popularity of the show, it was moved in 2009 to much larger venue Pauley Pavilion, providing the opportunity for more to experience the cherished campus tradition. "Spring Sing 2009 Rock Pauley" made its return debut in Pauley Pavilion on May 8, 2009 and also in 2010 on May 14, 2010. Due to construction on Pauley Pavilion, Spring Sing returned to UCLA's Los Angeles Tennis Center on May 20th, 2011. The legacy will continue at Los Angeles Tennis Center on May 4, 2012.
[edit] Winners[2]
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010[3] | 2011 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern California Alumni Grand Sweepstakes Award (Overall) | Willie Chase, "Open Seas" | Mikey G and Dan from Danville, "Cast Away." | Katie Boeck, "Colorblind" | Katie Boeck, "White Lies" | Katie Boeck, "Your Part" | DJ Harper, "I Call It Love"[4] | Courtney Randall, "The One" |
| Bruin Choice Award (new 2009) | - | - | - | - | The Strathmore Players, "Jerry Maguire: The Musical" | DJ Harper, "I Call It Love" | James Bunning, "One More" |
| UCLA Mortar Board Award (Solo) | Willie Chase, "Open Seas" | Katie Boeck, "Colorblind" | Katie Boeck, "White Lies" | Katie Boeck, "Your Part" | DJ Harper, "I Call It Love" | Courtney Randall, "The One" | |
| Rose Bowl Bruins Award (Duet) | Mikey G and Dan from Danville, "Cast Away." | Horse Crash, "Please Be" | The Payphones, "Sabanilla" | Arianna and Kabir, "I Can't Help Myself" | |||
| UCLA Las Donas Award (Band) | Dani Nicole | Jarell Perry & The Ambassadors, "Hopeless" | 3:26, "Undo" | Rapture City Philharmonic, "Press Play" | thatwasthen, "Mr. Politician" | thatwasthen | |
| UCLA Prytanean Alumnae Award (A cappella) | Random Voices, "Goodbye" | Random Voices, "Sweet Dreams" | Bruin Harmony, "Ice, Ice Baby" | Scattertones, "Always Be My Baby" | Scattertones, "If You're Out There" | Bruin Harmony, "I Want You Back" | Scattertones, "Wavin' Flag" |
| UCLA Affiliates Award (Production) | Alpha Gamma Omega & Chi Omega, "The Bruin Way" | Pi Kappa Phi & Delta Gamma, "Alice in Westwoodland" | Pi Kappa Phi & Delta Gamma, "Love of the Game" | The Strathmore Players, "Jerry Maguire: The Musical" | Gleeche, "The Fame of the High School Glee Club" | Pi Kappa Phi & Delta Gamma "Candy Land" | |
| Judges Special Award (Honorable mention) | The Jumpmen "Jumpmen Jazz" | Trish Johnson, "Without You" | Bruin Harmony, "Magic Carpet Ride" | Christopher Geno, "Does it Matter?" | Katie Boeck, "Real World" | ||
| Gold Shield Alumnae Esprit de Corps Award (Overall participation) | Scattertones | Signature a Cappella | Bruin Harmony | The Trees, "Barefoot in the Promised Land, Screaming!" | Signature a Cappella | ||
| Best Group Director Award | Kappa Delta & Delta Tau Delta | Chi Omega & Alpha Gamma Omega Production | Kappa Kappa Psi & Tau Beta Sigma Production | Pi Kappa Phi & Delta Gamma Production | Pi Kappa Phi & Delta Gamma Production | Pi Kappa Phi & Delta Gamma Production | |
| The Sasan Ahoraian Company Award (Best Company skit) | i-Phone | Paw Print (A Twilight Spoof) | Club B-Cafe |
[edit] Judges and masters of ceremonies
Celebrities have served as judges and master of ceremonies. They have included former President Ronald Reagan, actor Jason Alexander, Fred MacMurray, conductor Andre Previn, Christopher Gorham (Ugly Betty), Ryan Carnes (Desperate Housewives), Amber Stevens (Greek), Dr. Bill Dorfman (Extreme Makeover), Tatyana Ali (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), Sarah Drew (Grey's Anatomy) and Todd White, a member of the lead animation team for "SpongeBob SquarePants".[5]
Others were: actors Sean Astin, Ian Buchanan, Dennis Haskins, Andrew Keegan, Tina Majorino, Danica McKellar (The Wonder Years), and Patrick Renna. 2009 judges included model Janice Dickinson, actress Shelley Long, local KNBC-TV newscaster Ted Chen, and Melissa Joan Hart.[6][7]
[edit] The George and Ira Gershwin Award
In recognition of their contributions to American music and in honor of their gift to UCLA, the UCLA Student Alumni Association established the annual George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement in 1988. In 1936, George and Ira Gershwin adapted the title tune from their musical Strike Up the Band as a new Bruin fight song for the growing university[8].
Winners have included:
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Lionel Richie said at Spring Sing 2008: "Forget about surviving 30 some-odd years in the music business; Lionel Richie survived 27 years of Nicole Richie".[10]
Julie Andrews said at her award ceremony: "Go Bruins. Beat 'SC ... let the Gershwin tunes strike up the band to celebrate every one of those victories."[11]
[edit] Committee
Spring Sing is organized and executed each year by a committee of UCLA students who are chosen by the Student Alumni Association and the UCLA Alumni Association advisors. There are 8 different positions on the Spring Sing committee. Each position carries with it specific responsibilities for the successful implementation of the show. The Spring Sing 2009 committee also included UCLA Alumni Association advisor Gloria Ko.
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Executive Director | Vi Hua | Emily Frum | Ross Harold | Jennifer Crowe | Jennifer Middleton | Ruben Garcia | Ali Owens | Aly Yarris | Kelsey Balance | Kevin Yang |
| Internal Director | Brittney Reuter | Ashley Skipwith | Jennae Lee | Divya Budhraja | Emily Fizer | Caileen Coleman | ||||
| Assistant Director | Andrew McLaughlin | Nina Garcia | Samantha Slama | Antoinette Brou | ||||||
| Talent Directors | Michael Tong, Pam Romero, Olivia Wong | Betty Kim, Marie Howell, Genevieve Wong | Lisa Budhiman, Jennifer Crowe, Alissa Zimmerman |
Ting-Ting Wei, Dean Otsuka, Amy Blythe |
Ali Owens, Manaf Mansure, Liang Wang | Katie LaBouff, Sydney Pritchett, Amber Bissell | Emily George, Samantha Mueller, Brian Tran |
Courtney Bradley, Ythy Ho, Alex Reichert | Nicole Jazayeri, Reid Taguchi, Leah Whitehead | Shannon Nguyen, Alexandra Petro, Lisa Phan |
| Company Directors | Aaron Ziegler | Elizabeth Hoy | Lisa Zine | Nabeela Virji and Brian King | Billy Gellepis and Amelie Janson | Yong Kim and Jeremy Alm | David Larsen, Cassi Porter | Kelsey Balance | Jenna Kieselbach, Whitney Harrison | Leslie Grant, Susan Peters |
| Public Relations (Marketing Directors) | Verna Bhargava, Daphne Woo, Patricia Benitez | Kirsten Barrett, Lisa Engel, Henri Romeo Ortega Patricio, Vivian Shih | Gina Albert, Jessica Berliner, Michael Frech, Will Schaper |
Priyah Kaul, Emma Nagy, Tracy Lorenz | Candice Chen, Jaclyn Hong, Kiana Pourjanfeshan | Justin Manduke, Kiesha Nazarenus, Tyler Phan |
Melissa Chiong, Maiah Parks, Samantha Slama | Nicholas Phelps, Sialoren Spaulding, Erin Wallace | Julie Lee, Briana Munoz-Flores | |
| Judges & Awards Directors | Emily Frum, Shawna Benard, Priya Knuaseelan | Naveen Bazaj, Jonathan Tillman, Florence Tseng | Ruben Garcia, Natalia Pliczka, Lisa Yu | Dori Nguyen, Winnie Ko, Brian Rocha | Lauren Poblete, Gina Nuti | Amanda Hill, Rachna Shenoy, Rikin Tank | Lina Kaisey, Felicia Xu, Kevin Yang | Michelle Klein, Turner Pope | ||
| VIP Relations | Meredith Callan, Joselyn Delgado | |||||||||
| George & Ira Gershwin Award Director | Shiraz Khalid | Leslie Dalziel | Jennifer Middleton | Lauren Adams | Valerie Vinco | Lindsey Olson | Martha Abundis | Nancy Juarez | Emma Citrin | |
| Stage Manager or Production Manager |
Patrick Vasquez | Chandana Kolavala | Betty Tran | Terry Heinrich | Lindsay Whalen | Robert Frink | Lizette Aguirre | Leah Titus | Danny Durbin | Timothy Krause, Tiffany Le |
| Multimedia Director | Yan Zhang | |||||||||
| Corporate Relations | Tina Ashtiani, Thao Dang, Ross Harold |
[edit] Company
Company has the potential to be a group of the most hilarious and creative people on the UCLA campus who live for the spotlight and the opportunity to make the audience crack up. These funny folks perform original skits and create videos that are shown throughout Spring Sing and poke fun at the various aspects of life at UCLA that students can understand. From res hall life, to Greek life, to the everyday experience of being a coed in LA, Company will find a way to turn the mundane into the side-splitting, the commonplace into the comical.
Company members 1993: 1994: 1995: 1996:
Dani De Jesus, Martin Gabaya, Todd Sargent
1997: 1998: 1999: 2000: 2001: 2002:
2003:
Mikey Day, Jessie Gaskell, Kevin Hampton, Abby Henchmann, Ben Larson, Nasim Pedrad, Tiffany Reaves, Dean Sage, Alex Spilger, Leah Sprecher, Kim Weisberg
2006:
Jim Brandon, Josh English, Keith Goss, Trenten Chase Huntington, Jenny Lauritsen, Mandy Muenzer, Shaiya Rahman, Lauren Sill, Brian Singleton, Chris Smith, Mike Stevenson, Lisa Zine
2007:
Kean Almryde, Jim Brandon, Keye Chen, Jack DeSena, Melissa Eelkema, Caity Engler, Mark Iverson, Kelly McLean, Aadit Patel, Jordan Riggs, Lauren Sill, Jennifer Sim, Chris Smith
2008:
Sasan Ahoraian, Kean Almryde, Shane Billings, Candace Gragnani, Matt Griffin, Kareem Hammad, Mark Iverson, Michael Lyons, Dylan Matteson, Constance Reese, Regan Riskas, Katy Tang, Madison Vanderberg
2009:
Sasan Ahoraian, Kean Almryde, Shane Billings, Ben Goldsmith, Mark Stewart Iverson, Michelle Lin, Heather Losey, Dylan Matteson, Jackson McNeill, Sydney Pritchett, Jordan Riggs, Regan Riskas, Christine Takaichi, Madison Vanderberg.
2010:
Shane Billings, Colin Davis, Ben Goldsmith, Steve Greene, Maddy Grubman, Kyle Lau, Jessie Linn, Ashley Morrissey, Dean Otsuka, Jake Perkowski, Kevin Ruane, Madison Vanderberg.
2011:
Kimia Behpoornia, Colin Davis, Margaret Gardner, Benjamin Goldsmith, Steve Greene, Maddy Grubman, Albert Heng, Kyle Lau, Jessie Linn, Ashley Morrissey, Jake Perkowski, Kevin Ruane, Nick Smith, Lauren Vally, AJ White
[edit] References
- ^ Spring Sing 2007
- ^ UCLA Alumni Association Spring Sing History, November 13, 2011
- ^ YouTube: UCLA Spring Sing 2010 Awards Ceremony, May 14, 2010
- ^ YouTube: DJ Harper, "I Call It Love", May 14, 2010
- ^ Lionel Richie to receive Gershwin Award at UCLA's Spring Sing
- ^ You Tube: Spring Sing '09 Janice Dickinson
- ^ You Tube: Spring Sing '09 Melissa Joan Hart
- ^ “Strike Up the Band for UCLA” [1]
- ^ Spring Sing – Gershwin Award, UCLA Alumni Association, March, 2011
- ^ Lionel Richie accepts The George and Ira Gershwin Award
- ^ You Tube:Spring Sing 09' Julie Andrews pt. 3
- "List of "George and Ira Gershwin Award" Recpipients". http://www.uclalumni.net/calendarevents/springsing/Gershwin/winners.cfm. Retrieved 2006-12-25.
- "UCLA Spring Sing". http://www.uclalumni.net/calendarevents/springsing/. Retrieved 2006-12-25.
- "Spring Sing 2009". http://www.uclalumni.net/CalendarEvents/springsing/2009/home.cfm. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
