Sigma Theta Chi, Galaxy and Freshman Purple are the overall winners of this year’s Sing Song.

Sigma Theta Chi’s theme was Under the Sea directed by Jenna Stevens, senior nursing major from Abilene; Galaxy was Star Wars directed by Austin Nelson, sophomore vocal performance major from Georgetown; and Freshman Purple was Hansel and Gretel, directed by Anna Straughn, freshman musical theater major from Abilene.

“I’m just so proud of the way they sound and the way they look,” Straughn said. “I just think my favorite part is looking back at day one and knowing the way we did not sound or look the way we did at the end.”

The freshman purple act, Hansel and Gretel, perform under the direction of Anna Straugn. (Photo by Daniel Curd)

The directors for each act and the theme they would perform were chosen early in the fall semester when they began choosing songs and arranging the music in preparation for practices in the spring. Originally, both Galaxy and Sigma Theta Chi wanted to perform Star Wars. Stevens even went so far as to announce to the rest of the club that they would be doing Star Wars.

“Then, I found out Galaxy wanted Star Wars also,” Stevens said. “The way we do it is we draw, and so they drew the number before us so they ended up getting it, but then I thought of under the sea as a backup and I kind of liked the bright colors scales and rainbow fish vibe.”

Each of the directors comes from some sort of musical background, participating in choir, musical theater, or even coming from families who had directed acts and hosted Sing Song.

For the Siggies, winning this year was special because it is the first time in ten years that they have done so, said Stevens.

“We lost ten years in a row,” Stevens said, “so this is a pretty sweet victory for us. Obviously, I am excited because winning is fun. I think it was extra fun because it’s been ten years, so we got to do it for all the alumni that haven’t gotten to win in so long either.”

Members of the Sigma Theta Chi act gasp as a papier-mache shark appears. (Photo by Daniel Curd)

Galaxy also had not won since 2019, but they knew the amount of work it would take to win this year, Nelson said.

“I knew we were going to win the entire time,” Nelson said. “As soon as I found out I was going to be the Sing Song director I already knew I was going to have to put 150% effort into it, and if I was going to do this, we were not going to lose.”