On Tuesday night, March 29th, Jordan Knight came to West Chester University to host “The Karaoke Showdown.” Knight opened the show with some of his own singing, getting a mixed reactions from the audience. Some called him “a disappointment and bad karaoke,” while others said “It took me back to the NKOTB days!” The contestants were happy with the choice for MC. “He interacted a lot with us,” said Ronnie Eichner. “He wasnʼt at all what we expected.” The MC choice was exciting, but the contest itself turned out a large and energetic audience. Greg Offner, with his rendition of “This Love” by Maroon 5, earned first place for the third year running. Katie DiLeoʼs heartwarming singing of “At Last” brought home second. Other acts ranged from serious to funny with a lot of crowd interaction. Members of the track team formed The Spice Rack singing “Wannabe,” and Out of Sync sang “I Want You Back.” Their singing gave the audience a lot of laughs. “It was fun to watch, everyone had a lot of energy,” said Justin Horvath. Eichner praised the crowd,”They were incredible!” The competition was broken into three rounds. The first was the contestantʼs choice, the second the contestant chose a piece of paper with a corresponding song number, and the third was a Wheel of Death. A panel of celebrity judges then critiqued the performances.
This year the celebrity judges were former Eagles cheerleader Sonya, an administrator filling in for Agent Tony and Miss WCU. While the judges were fair, some contestants complained that they were not exactly sure what the judges were looking for, most agree, though, that Offner was the best choice for winner, as he handled the pressure of singing “I Feel Like a Woman” by Shania Twain and “Donʼt Stop Until You Get Enough” by Michael Jackson. “He was funny, yet professional in the songs that came up. He was really fun to watch!” said audience member Danielle Josset.
The Karaoke Showdown is always a big event, and it draws a big crowd every year, even from other schools. Kaitlyn Mayberry, a student at Bloomsburg University, said “I wish we could do something like this. It is fun and neat to be able to see kids from your classes showcase the talents you were unaware they had.”
So if you missed it this year, be sure to come next year when another icon from our childhood will be hosting.