A crowd of about 50 cheered and danced in their seats as seven Ball State University students competed to become the first College Idol.
Event organizers said they hoped more students would attend the free event at Pruis Hall, which seats 700.
Melody Blevins, publicist for Street Theory Records, the company which sponsored the competition, said several universities in Indiana and Ohio would have auditions and semi-finals prior to the final event, which is April 19 in Fort Wayne.
Blevins said Street Theory worked with Ball State's Multicultural Center to bring the competition to campus.
According to the Street Theory Records Web site, performers can audition as vocalists, rappers or dancers, with five entrants from each category moving on to the semi-final round.
Blevins said there were no dance acts among the twenty Ball State students who auditioned.
Because only seven Ball State students performed in the semi-finals, organizers decided the top three performers would advance to the finals instead of choosing a winner from each category.
Freshman music theatre major Justice Marie Fuller performed Whitney Houston's "Greatest Love of All," a song she said won her several high school competitions.
Fuller said she was surprised by the low number of audience members.
Blevins said organizers delayed the start of the competition by about 20 minutes to allow people to attend.
Junior Vanessa Taylor, an apparel design and fashion merchandising major and one of the competition's winners, said the Black Student Association fashion show Back in Black ended just as College Idol began, which might explain the low turnout.
Sophomore international business major Koboei Jensen performed with sophomore telecommunications major Phuong Dao as the competition's only rap entry.
The duo, who will perform at the College Idol finals, said they are fans of all genres of music, although they express themselves through hip-hop.
In addition to student contestants, three artists from Street Theory Records also performed.
Rapper Da Blackness said the hip-hop genre has one foot in the grave, and it is too easy for artists to say what everyone else says.
"There's a lot to be talked about," he said. "There's what's going on in Iraq and Sudan. It's a big thing. I choose not to talk about shoes, [but] it's a balance thing. You need the rappers who talk about rims and chains [and] the ones who talk about politics."
Street Theory Records Engineer James Scott said the label would launch artists' videos on BET and MTV within the next year.
Semi-finalists from each campus will appear on a compilation CD produced by Street Theory, he said.
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