It may only be September, but auditions for Sing Song host and hostess begin in six days, and 32 students have already signed up.

The sign-up sheet is filling up, and Tom Craig, director of student activities and productions, estimates 50 students will sign up for auditions. There will be two rounds of auditions, which will occur on Sept. 29 and 30.

“I love Sing Song, it’s a passion,” said Brantly Houston, senior advertising and public relations major from Abilene. “Being able to be a part of it in that way, would be something I would love to do.”

Houston has already signed up for auditions.

Tom Craig said the auditions are a terrific experience for performance-oriented students. He encourages such students to audition their junior and senior years to become comfortable with a professional audition environment.

“It’s a process used by a lot of professional agencies when they are casting shows,” said Craig of the audition process.

Craig brings in outside judges that do not know the students, which enables an unbiased judging process. This ensures the students are judged solely on their performance and attributes displayed in the audition.

“It rattles your nerves a little bit when you go through that process and you walk out on stage and you’re the only one, looking at a panel of judges that looks like America’s Got Talent,” Craig said.

The auditioning students are not allowed to sing a cappella in the audition, but must choose some form of accompaniment. The most common forms of accompaniment are: a track, instrumental self-accompaniment, or instrumental accompaniment by a friend, said Craig.

After the first round has concluded, Craig said there is usually a natural break in the scores. They give callbacks to the group above the natural break. The auditions are closed to the public to reduce stress and allow the participants to focus.

The sign-up sheet is in Room 10 on the lower level of the Campus Center. Craig encourages any interested juniors and seniors to audition.