By Jonathan Smith, Editor in Chief
What began as a shocking end to the 50th Sing Song on Saturday ended up causing confusion and a full range of emotions for Sigma Theta Chi and Alpha Kai Omega as students and spectators waited almost an hour after the official ending of the show for results to be recounted.
In the end, Sigma Theta Chi, Gamma Sigma Phi and the freshman class were named winners for “The 50th Show,” but not before Sing Song officials re-tallied every score by hand and changed the results for the women’s category.
Alpha Kai Omega, Gamma Sigma Phi and freshmen were first announced as overall winners. Although excited about her club’s supposed victory, Alpha Kai director Mandy Nelson, senior youth and family ministry major from Alvin, admitted the results were unexpected.
After winning the first three judging categories – originality, costumes and presentation – the initial tally showed Sigma Theta Chi not placing in vocals, which gave them third place overall.
Kendall Massey, director of Student Productions, said he was surprised when he saw the results before they were announced, but he trusted the judging system. When a judge later pulled him aside and suggested a recount needed to be made, Massey and a handful of show organizers and administrators recounted all the scores by hand.
“There were only a few changes that had to be made, but they were major changes,” Massey said.
After the recount, Siggies placed first in vocals instead of fourth, a change drastic enough to push them ahead of Alpha Kai Omega in the overall category.
A minor change in the men’s voting moved GSP into first for vocals and Galaxy into second – a change not significant enough to affect the overall outcome.
Siggies and GSP have now won the competition five years in a row.
Alpha Kai and Siggie members alike hugged and cried after Massey announced the change, and Nelson and Siggie director Kara Wilson, senior interdisciplinary Spanish and vocational missions major from San Antonio, talked for several minutes about the night’s events. Both also talked to Massey, and he said he saw club rivalries take a back seat to cooperation and good will between the clubs.
Not all Massey heard and saw was positive, however.
“I had a lot of people say ugly things to me,” Massey said. “That’s all right. I just don’t want my students to be hurt.”
Although the controversy was all most people could talk about after the show, Massey said he hopes it is not all that people remembered.
“I hope that people won’t remember [the show] for this,” Massey said. “I hope they remember the hard work the students put into it.”
Editor’s note: Complete information regarding Sing Song results – including the judges’ scores – will be available in Tuesday’s edition of the Optimist.
