Lip Sync Battle leaves crowd ‘so excited’
The competition was fierce and so were the performances at the Lip Sync Battle Nov. 16 at Texas A&M University-San Antonio.
Despite a brief technical delay at the start of the event, six students put on energetic performances to ovations from the crowd of around 50 people.
The standout performances came from management senior Cary Farrow, and communication freshman Brandan Salazar.
Farrow kicked off the night with his first round matchup. The energetic performance to “Kiss” by Prince and The Revolution saw him leave the stage and dance in the aisles, much to the crowd’s delight.
“The Prince song is one I have done at karaoke a bunch of times,” Farrow said. “It’s a crowd pleaser and there’s a dance section in the middle.”
Salazar’s first-round bout saw him put on an inspired routine to the classic “I’m So Excited” by The Pointer Sisters.
Dressed as a 1980s fitness instructor, Salazar worked the crowd into a frenzy. The frenzy peaked when Salazar whipped a pride flag out of his fanny pack and waved it over his head, soliciting the loudest crowd reaction of the night.
Salazar said he tried to incorporate some ‘80s dance moves for the choreography, then pulled out the pride flag to top it off. “Whenever I pulled out the pride flag, I loved doing that,” Salazar said.
The championship round between the two fan favorites, Salazar and Farrow, did not disappoint an already enthusiastic crowd.
First up was Salazar lip syncing “I Love Rock ‘N Roll” by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts.
This performance saw a complete change of persona for Salazar. He donned black eye makeup, a black Kiss T-shirt, blue jeans with a prop paper guitar.
With his work cut out for him, Farrow took the stage next to lip sync, “Sexy and I know It” by LMFAO.
He proved up to the challenge as he put on a show that was decidedly PG-13. Shirtless, he performed push ups, pelvic thrusts and more to delighted squeals and whistles from many in the audience.
To top off this final performance, someone showered Farrow with fake money in a scene befitting a “Magic Mike” movie.
The crowd decided the winner by cheering for their favorite contestant. In the end, Farrow eked out a win over Salazar to take home first prize, a $75 gift card.
Despite coming up just short, Salazar was happy with how he did.
“I came in fairly confident because I heard talks that most people didn’t prepare as much as I did, but all in all I am proud of what I did. I feel like I did really good,” Salazar said.
Farrow knew it would be tough to win .
“I knew Brandan a bit, so I suspected it would come down to me and him,” Farrow said. “I honestly thought he would beat me, but I came out ahead. It was close.”
D’Markus Floyd, an event coordinator for the Campus Activities Board, came up with the idea for the event and organized it.
Floyd had nothing but positive things to say about the performers.
“They are brave enough to get up there,” Floyd said. “To come out here and perform in front of everyone, that takes some high kind of skill and bravery.”
Floyd said he was happy with the turnout and how well received it was by the crowd. He hopes to have the chance to do it again.
“I want to, if I'm allowed to, and try to make it better,” Floyd said. “That last performance was a little spicy, I wasn’t expecting it,” he said chuckling, “but everyone loved it, so that’s all that mattered.”