Hamline hosted its annual Lip Sync Competition in Anderson on Friday night, where the audience filled the chairs on the first floor of Anderson, and more spectators crowded the second floor. Before the show started, the emcees announced the winners of the “Best Seat in the House” raffle and invited them to sit up front in reserved seats. The event started with an introduction of the judges: Javier Gutierrez, Assistant Dean of Student Conduct and the Director of Residential Life; Margot Howard, Coordinator of Social Justice Initiatives and Hamline to Hamline Collaboration; and Karyn Cave, a Hamline alum and previous winner of Hamline’s lip sync competition. The competitors were judged on four criteria: creativity, crowd reaction, authenticity, and lip sync skills. The first place winning act received a $250 prize second place received $200, and third place received $150. The event included eight acts. The audience was encouraged to cheer loudly for the acts they enjoyed.

The Creepers, the first act of the night, performed the humorous dance “The Creep,” popularized by The Lonely Island. Sporting gelled hair, pencil mustaches and oversized glasses, the Creepers stalked their way into the aisles and encouraged crowd interaction.

The second act, the Ice Breakers, was comprised of NSMs, who started their performance wearing red Hamline T-shirts and had a choreographed costume change to white T-shirts. They also did a mashup of different types of songs.

The third act, #FlashbackFridays, (including senior Kalyn Anderson, sophomore Sophia Myers-Kelley and first-years Molly Sina and Zinzile Sibanda) danced to “Oops I Did It Again,” followed by “I Want Candy,” “I Want It That Way” and “Wannabe.”

The fourth act, The Automatons, who went on to win with a performance to “Brass Goggles” by the steampunk-themed band Steam Powered Giraffe. The performers, senior Kristina Stuntebeck and junior Kissi Nordtorp-Neilsen, both wore elaborate full-face makeup to make them look like robots. Nordtorp-Neilsen strummed a guitar while Stuntebeck led the audience in a sing-along. After winning, Nordtorp-Neilsen said her favorite part of the performance was the teamwork between her and Stuntebeck. Nordtorp-Neilsen plans to use her portion of the $250 prize towards her tuition or towards cosplay materials for conventions.

The fifth act, Lemon Twist, consisted of sophomore Jake Krohn and junior Maddie Stauber, who started their performance with “The Phantom of the Opera” and continued with “You’re The One that I Want,”  “All I Ask of You” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”

The sixth act, Ethyoncé, won second place. Following his performance of “Single Ladies” at last year’s Lip Sync Competition, sophomore Ethan Mundt resumed his Beyonce act, this year performing a “Proud Mary” cover by Beyoncé and Tina Turner. The crowd cheered loudly and enthusiastically when Mundt’s act was announced. Feeling energized after the performance, Mundt said “I love getting on stage; it fills you with energy. I was so excited about the large audience.”

The seventh act, Tyler and the Lady Bugs, received third place in the contest. Juniors Jordan Laffin and Loren Hextall and sophomores Kacie Connelly and Marko Dewhurst wore pink and strutted their stuff to “Domino” by Jessie J and “Bang Bang” by Ariana Grande, Jessie J and Nicki Minaj.

Hextall is in Dance Ensemble with most of her fellow performers.”We worked hard for this competition,” Hextall said. “We practiced for two weeks, so getting third place feels great.”

HU Softball, the final performance of the evening, featured ten girls from the softball team. They closed the show with a Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears mashup.

Sophomore Kasey Marquardt was in attendance for the performances. “There was a lot of hype around the event last year, and it is supposed to be one of the most fun homecoming events,” Marquardt said. “I’m glad I came.”