One of the biggest traditions of Ball State's Homecoming Week returns at 8 p.m. Thursday in John R. Emens Auditorium with 19 teams vying for multiple Air Jam titles.
Last year, more teams than usual competed in the lip-sync show thanks to the addition of a second round of competition. This year, the Homecoming Steering Committee decided to go back to one show, though they used a new method to choose performers.
“They used to camp out and everything so it was just a big safety hazard with UPD and with our own students,” said Catherine Burgess, president of the steering committee. “So, we did a raffle, just a random drawing, and the first 20 [teams] get to be in it.”
While the cutoff for teams was 20, only 19 applied, so all of the applicants get to participate in the show. In addition to the overall winner, Burgess said applicants can win prizes for different categories such as Greek, residence hall and independent.
“This year we’re actually working on actually having a prize this year,” Burgess said. “Usually there’s a trophy and everything but you’re the Air Jam Greek winner or independent winner and everything like that. But hopefully this year there actually is a prize because it is fun to actually have something tangible.”
There will be seven judges this year, all of which are Ball State alumni. The teams are judged based on costumes, music, choreography and how clean the dancing and lip-synching are. All scores from the judges are averaged to help decide the winners.
Burgess said everyone should attend Air Jam at least once in college.
“It’s one of the biggest traditions at Ball State and throughout Homecoming Week,” she said. “It’s a lot of fun. The excitement and the atmosphere within Emens is something that can’t be described in words. So you just have to experience it for yourself and just say that you went to Air Jam at least once throughout college.”
Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at Emens Box Office.
Contact Evan Weaver with comments at erweaver@bsu.edu.
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