View a photo gallery of Air Jam at the Daily News photo blog.
Cheers could be heard from outside John R. Emens Auditorium Thursday at the 24th annual Air Jam, where about 3,300 students gathered to watch groups dance and lip-sync to popular music.
Twenty teams participated in the lip-syncing contest in the categories of greek and residence hall.
The winning team in the greek category was Sigma Phi Epsilon and Chi Omega. The crowd favorite was Lambda Chi Alpha and Alpha Kappa Alpha. The winning team for the independent category was the Black Student Association, which was also the overall winner of the competition.
Rebecca Lomax, sophomore dance major, choreographed the dance, which she said she put a lot of time and effort into it.
"I'm holding back tears," she said.
Lomax was dressed as Batman during the performance. Her favorite part of Air Jam was that none of the other teams were negative toward their competitors.
"Everyone worked really hard and everyone supported each other," she said.
Shadeh Marcus-Parker, senior communication studies major, could not control her excitement, and said she was happy all their hard work paid off.
"All the practice that [Lomax] made us do... We've been through a lot," she said. "We deserved it."
Laura Merz, senior advertising major, thought the audience's participation indicated how good each act's performance was.
"I think you can judge how good a performance is by the amount of people out of their seats," she said.
That prediction could have held true for the BSA, which seemed to have been a favorite among the cheering students.
Chad Griewank, student organizations and greek relations chairman for the event, said Air Jam has sold out the past three to four years.
"I think it's so popular because everyone can get up and make fools of themselves," he said. "It doesn't matter how good or bad you do, it's about having a good time."
One group that had a good time even if they didn't win was the Ball State Ballroom.
"I can't wait to do it again," Amanda Cross, sophomore public relations said. "We wanted to promote a different type of dance, but we wanted to show how fun it is."
The group mixed ballroom and hip-hop styles for its performance. Another member of the group, freshman Kaylie Walker, agreed the competition was more than winning and about showing that ballroom can be modern too.
"We just wanted to have fun," Walker said. "That was the biggest thing."
Air Jam winners:
Independent: Black Student Association
Greek: Sigma Phi Epsilon and Chi Omega
Crowd Favorites: Lambda Chi Alpha and Alpha Kappa Alpha
Overall: Black Student Association
Homecoming King: Sterlyng Powell, Howick/Williams Hall
Homecoming Queen: Caitlyn Pohland, Code Red Dance Team
Homecoming Court
King candidates: Aaron Alexander, Pride ofMid-American Marching Band
Michael Bramer, BSU Dance Marathon
Jordan Habayeb, Woody/Shales Hall
David Johnson, University Singers
Kyle Johnson, Alpha Phi
Tyler Noragon, DeHority Hall
Fred Taylor, Alpha Kappa Psi
Dairick Wade, Black Student Association
Nick Yonts, Code Red DanceTeam
Queen candidates:
Katie DeBoy, DeHority Hall
Megan Downey, University Singers
Sara Hubbard, Pride of Mid-American Marching Band
Jessica Kruse, Delta Zeta
Mollie Smith, Woody/Shales Hall
Caitlin Sporleder, Education in Action
Kayla Stanton, Student Government Association
Janae Taylor, Women's Track & Field
Brandi Terry, Brayton/Clevenger Hall
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