By Kelsi Peace, Managing Editor
After being kidnapped on Tuesday night, the 2008 Sing Song hosts and hostesses removed their blindfolds on the Sing Song stage to see a circle of hosts and hostesses who had been selected for this year’s performance.
When the co-chairs arrived at her house to kidnap her, Benay Dennis, senior interdisciplinary music and business major from Rio Vista, said all her roommates were home, and two of her close friends were around.
“I just screamed and jumped up and down for about five minutes straight,” Benay said. “I was so excited. It was one of the best feelings of my life.”
For the first time, Benay is among four women instead of three to take the Sing Song stage as hostesses; three men were also named host.
“We had such a high quantity of high-quality women,” said Samuel Cook, judge and associate professor of voice and opera at ACU.
Cook said the scores were so close between some of the women they couldn’t eliminate them – and he added that the men provided an array of talent as well.
The other hosts and hostesses for the 2008 Sing Song, World Tour, are: Kari Anderson, senior Biblical text major from Inkster, Mich.; Isaac Bray, junior vocal music education major from Abilene; Ben Reeves, junior marketing major from Abilene; Marcie Rodriguez, senior graphic design major from Snyder; Elizabeth Anne Russell, senior communication/marketing major from College Station; and Anna Peters, junior family ministry/elementary education major from Houston.
The panel of five judges selected the seven hosts and hostesses from 53 contestants after judging prepared auditions, sight-reading, choreography, stage presence and vocal blending.
The host who stands out in Cook’s mind sang a Stevie Wonder song at his audition – one of the judge’s favorites artists.
“He blew my socks off,” Cook said.
A vocalist himself, Cook said he looked for performances with freedom and emotion and the power to invoke emotion.
A second-time judge, Cook applauded this year’s process for its organization and said he enjoyed seeing the array of talent on campus. And this year’s group, Cook said, possesses immense talent and, he hopes, will offer an energized performance.
“They all really love the Lord,” Cook said. “And so they will be able to reflect a special joy in their singing.”
For Benay, the joy also comes from her deep-seated desire for hostess from about age three.
“I’ve always loved being onstage,” Benay said. “I just thought that was the coolest thing, ’cause they were in the spotlight, they got to do what they loved. I just remember telling my mom ‘I want to do that. I want to entertain people.'”
Benay started practicing in June for the audition.
But not all hosts and hostesses got an early start.
Ben said he picked up his audition about a week beforehand, asked his brother to accompany him and walked on stage with little performance experience.
Auditioning because the role appealed to him, Ben said he walked away from the audition not expecting anything.
“I didn’t really know anything,” Ben said. “It was a good surprise.”
And being green to the world of performance doesn’t appear to intimidate him.
“I’m just really thankful that I get to work with some great people,” he said. “I think they’ll coach me great . I’m pretty confident in their ability.”
Meetings and practices for the hosts and hostesses are slated to begin in the next few weeks as they gear up for the Feb. 15 and 16 show.
And Benay is counting down, already amped for the performance:
“I wish it was already Sing Song right now.”
