P.U.L.S.E (Powerful United Ladies Striving for Excellence) hosted a lip synching contest Thursday night in the Undergrounds, featuring solo acts, duets and bands mouthing along to tunes by a variety of popular artists.
P.U.L.S.E. is a women’s empowerment group that works to create an environment where women can build strong bonds by discussing issues that pertain to women of color.
The first performance was by D’Andre Smith, a freshman majoring in accounting, along with his friends, Amadou Ly, a freshman majoring in accounting and Robert Adasei, a freshman majoring in biology. The group lip synched R. Kelly’s “Bump ‘N’ Grind” as their exaggerated gesticulations kept the crowd laughing during the performance.
Christel-Ann Augustin, a junior majoring in psychology, and her friends, Wianda Jean, a senior majoring in sociology, and Aria Niles, a junior majoring in engineering, performed “No Scrubs” by TLC. The girls had synchronized dance movements on the stage.
Jean said that she had a great time while performing and enjoyed entertaining the crowd.
“It was so much fun and definitely worth the slight humiliation,” said Jean.
Michael Rosa, a host for the night and a senior majoring in human development, aimed to keep the crowd entertained and engaged.
“We’re very close to the P.U.L.S.E. group and we’re honored when they asked us to host the event. We wanted to support them and help them raise the money they needed,” Rosa said.
Brianna Insanti, an undeclared freshman, volunteered at the event.
“This is my first night volunteering and I really enjoy it so far,” Insanti said. “I wanted to get involved in P.U.L.S.E. because it’s a women’s empowerment group and creates a comfortable environment.”
One of the judges, Arlene Arisme, a senior majoring in English, explained how the judges evaluated each performance on their appearance, overall personality through facial expressions and gestures, lip synching ability, energy and audience response.
“Each category is ranked on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest score,” Arisme said.
Prizes for the winners included gift cards to Sweet Frog, Texas Roadhouse and Ruby Tuesday’s.
The club hosts the annual lip sync contest to raise money for the their “Women’s Educating, Elevating and Empowering Conference,” to be held this December in the Mandela Room.
“The conference has women come together and inspire each other through a network of support on a cultural, educational, social, and personal level, as well as, work towards guiding women to aspire what they want to be,” said Cassandra Lolo, a fundraiser for P.U.L.S.E. and a sophomore majoring in biology.