UCLA has got some great traditions, and Spring Sing is one of my favorites.  Put on by the Student Alumni Association (SAA) every year in May, thousands gather to witness one of the most entertaining events you could ever imagine.  People sing, people dance, and back in my glory days, people juggled and jump roped too.  Entrants compete in a variety of categories, a special guest is given an award for lifetime musical achievement, and everyone is entertained by hilarious skits and parodies in between acts.  While I was a student there, it was held in the Los Angeles Tennis Center, which got transformed into a huge concert venue for the night.  This year, they had to move it over to Pauley Pavilion due to the high demand.  When I went last year, over 5000 people were there as well, which is why a bigger venue had to be sought out for this year’s 7000+ attendees.  Although the LATC can hold many more than just 5000 or even 7000 people, many of those seats become obsolete once the stage is set up.  It’s strange to think of the event I associated with that place now indoors, but that’s part of Spring Sing’s growth – throughout the years it has moved as the audience size grew.

YouTube Spring Sing and you will find hundreds of great videos, from the performances themselves to the George and Ira Gershwin Award winner speech to the amazing videos and skits that Company produces.  We’ve had some great talent throughout the years, including Maroon 5 (known as Kara’s Flowers back then) and Sara Barielles, who won twice!  Additionally, some celebrities have been invited to judge, with the likes of former President Ronald Reagan and Tatyana Ali (Will Smith’s little girl cousin in Fresh Prince) amongst them.  And of course, let’s not forget the special guests who are invited to attend just so they can accept the George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement.  Last year it was Lionel Richie, who gave a funny and engaging acceptance speech, saying, “Forget about surviving 30 some odd years in the music business, I survived 27 years of Nicole Richie.”  This year, the award recipient is Julie Andrews!  I’m so jealous.  And finally, Company provides the best laughs for the night, with videos like the “March of the Trojans,” “Brokeback Fountain,” and “The Hill” to musicals about “fro-yo” when frozen yogurt joints had spread across LA like wildfire and skits about the new Sudoku craze.  There are SO many other great ones!  You’ve got to check them out.

I’m really sad that I am not there right now, as performances rage on and the audience has a blast.  However, I know that at least I can expect videos popping up online within hours and throughout the next week or so, so at least I can experience some of what they saw.  Unfortunately, some videos just don’t do justice the experience, like any you may find of the UCLA juggler and jump roper when they “battled” each other.  On video, it doesn’t look that exciting because you just can’t see the intricacies of what they’re doing.  Being there, however, was AWESOME and I’m so glad I had that privilege.  I hope I’m around next year to go see what it’s like at its new location and see what other talent UCLA holds.  It’s always endlessly entertaining with the parodies that Company does, as listed above.  They touch on a lot of current situations, from popular TV shows and movies to the latest craze hitting LA.  It’s some quality comedy!