What's the deal with this pop life?

You may have heard that IU Sing has been cancelled this year. Contrary to the word on the Extension, IU Sing is back, with a makeover to make it better than ever. With some key changes, the Indiana University Student Foundation hopes to restore IU Sing to its former glory.

This year marks the 78^th running of IU Sing. The first show was in 1932, sponsored by the YWCA and YMCA. The goal of IU Sing, which remains true today, was to involve housing units and organizations in a musical production, entertaining the campus and Bloomington community in efforts to raise money for student scholarships. In 1979, IUSF gained full responsibility for IU Sing.

For IU Sing, each act puts on a five to seven minute performance featuring choreographed singing and dancing. Every year the IUSF Steering Committee develops a theme for the show, which acts are to follow. This year’s theme is POP: All that was Pop, All that is Pop, All that will Pop. The show will center on all things pop culture, from Michael Jackson to Saved by the Bell to Woodstock to Kanye West. With the change of the theme also come many more changes to make the show more enjoyable and relaxed.

In the past, the IU Sing has been very formal. Production Staff, the committee that puts on IU Sing, typically wore tuxedos and long dresses to the event. That is changing this year. The audience is full of college kids wearing jeans, so why shouldn’t Production Staff follow suit? This will hopefully bring a more fun and relaxed atmosphere the show has previously lacked.

Another major change involves the music. In previous years, every act has been required to cast a full band to play the music. While the concept of a full band is a good idea, it is always a last minute scramble to throw together a band that can play Thriller. And lets be honest, it doesn’t sound the same from four frat guys.

This year acts are allowed to use recorded music. It is required to be purely instrumental, but this should bring an overall more enjoyable performance. Audio can be adjusted to hear the singers, dancers will be coordinated with the music, and the audience will actually recognize the song.

The final major change is that there will be two different awards ceremonies, one for each night. Last year, there was one overall award ceremony on Saturday night. For this IU Sing, each act will be put into a division and will receive their award that night. Changing this eliminates the need to purchase a ticket each night.

With these changes and a fantastic theme, IU Sing should not disappoint. Be on the lookout for more information on this year’s production as the semester ends and second semester gets rolling. It will be a show you will not want to miss!

Well, it is Indiana...

This past weekend was the IU Purdue game. To really no one's surprise, Indiana lost. (I'm pretty sure we won the tailgating though... see ya Purdue.) In honor of the rivalry, our Greek newspaper The Odyssey had a IU Purdue issue, featuring writers from both schools. Here is my article:

It’s no secret Indiana is a good time. Between tailgating, homecoming, Little 500, Welcome Week, Bid week, and select bars certain nights of

the week, we are blessed with nonstop fun that is practically handed to us. We have one of the greatest college traditions in Little 500, a strong Greek system, and a great social scene.

So who wouldn’t want to make a visit to IU? Over the past two and a half years I have been at Indiana, I have seen more than my fair share of celebrities on this campus. Singers, models, reality TV stars, Presidents… you name it, they’ve been here.

Perhaps one of the coolest celeb appearances this campus has witnessed has been Barack Obama.

You can hate him or you can love him, but you can’t deny his visit to the 2008 Women’s Little 500 race was incredible. Obama was making a quick political trip throughout Indiana, and that trip just so happened to be during Little 500 weekend. Why wouldn’t he stop by? There are only thousands of impressionable college students, jam-packed in stadium for one of the best college weekends. Hey there Obama, go ahead and take a Theta race day t-shirt. Yeah. I’d say that’s pretty cool.

We can also thank Obama for bringing Dave Matthews to IU for a free concert in 2008. Dave and Tim Reynolds performed at Assembly Hall the week before Little 500, bringing in tons of fans. Once again, you can love Barack or hate him, but he brought Dave Matthews to IU. For FREE. Purdue, has Dave ever paid a visit to your campus? How about the President? Nope, didn’t think so.

During last year’s Little 500, ATO and Acacia gave us Ludacris. Maybe Luda isn’t as big as he once was, but I know that concert was full. We’ve also had the Ying Yang Twins, DMX (until that whole cop situation happened), and Yung Joc for Little 500 events.

This fall, we witnessed one of the most raging concerts this campus has seen as Girl Talk and Cobra Starship took over Dunn Meadow. None other than Whitney Port of The City and a Victoria Secret Pink model hosted the show. Despite the pouring rain, we experienced an unreal concert that no other schools could. Thanks Victoria’s Secret!

These are all celebs that have visited for big events, but Bluebird and the IU Auditorium bring in a wide variety of talent every year, just because they can. Dave Barnes, Jon McLaughlin, Eric Church, Old Crow Medicine Show, Bill Cosby, Bob Dylan, and Ben Folds have all graced campus with their music and talent. Aren’t we lucky? Yeah, but we’re also Indiana.

So what do you have, Purdue?