A recent study shows that The Optimist correctly predicts Sing Song place outcomes at around 98% on a yearly basis.
The Optimist, the most trusted source on pre-competition Sing Song rankings, has a complicated, multi-step ranking process that has taken years to perfect.
According to Hal Hoots, Optimist Contributor, the process is top-secret and only The Optimist editors understand how the entire process works.
“The way they rank acts is super secret, like the Coca-Cola formula,” Hoots said. “It’s basically locked up in a vault, I guess that’s why it works so well.”
The study compared the last 15 years worth of Sing Song prediction data, taking into account anytime The Optimist was wrong, which was not often. The study then came up with the 98% rating from said data.
“I’m really proud of that number,” Rilely Simpson, current Optimist editor said. “I can’t wait for our predictions this year to keep up the streak. Nothing gets past us, there’s no way we accidentally don’t place a winning act in our predictions.”
For some, the predictions don’t mean anything despite the high percentage of accuracy.
“We don’t listen to The Optimist during Sing Song week,” Angie James, a member of GATA Sing Song said. “They always rank us third, even when we got third the year before. It’s so annoying.”
Other clubs on campus enjoy The Optimist rankings for their accuracy, toting the predictions across their respective social media accounts.
“They’ve gotten it right that we won three years in a row now,” Jackson Smith, Frater Sodalis member, said. “The Optimist has our back going up against GSP. They know we come out on top even when we should’ve gotten second.”
As for the class acts, no one really pays attention to those acts but the predictions are always spot on.
“The senior act always wins so it’s pretty easy to predict that one,” Simpson said. “We don’t even have to try on that part of it.”
Sing Song Director Courtney McGhaha said that the accurate Sing Song predictions are the best thing students can listen too during Sing Song week.
“Obviously we bring in and train judges for Sing Song ever year,” McGhaha said. “And that takes a lot of time and effort but honestly, The Optimist knows even better than the trained judges. Every act should listen to what the Optimist has to say when it comes to Sing Song predictions.”
This year’s predictions will later be added on to a continuing study seeing if the Optimist prediction percentage can eventually reach a 99% accuracy number, a goal which Simpson said is a part of The Optimist’s future.
“We’d love to be 100% accurate in the future but for now, we’re shooting for to reach the 99% mark,” Simpson said.
