The Ladies in Red and Jordan Williams performed to a crowd of about 100 people Friday night at Campout and will perform again to a sold out crowd of about 2,000 Thursday at The Ritz. A close vote, which combined audience votes with the judge panel’s votes, led the Union Activities Board to select two winners rather than one as originally planned. The two winners of UAB’s competition will open for Tori Kelly at the PackHowl homecoming concert Thursday.
Technical sound difficulties interrupted nearly all of the nine performances on Stafford Commons.
“It clearly didn’t go as planned,” said Jeremy Mason, chair of the Leisure and Recreation Committee for UAB.
The Ladies in Red, NC State’s all-female acapella group, performed twice because of sound problems with their first performance. None of their microphones worked the first go-round.
“We just had to take it by the horns and keep singing through it,” said Georgina Ishak, president of Ladies in Red and a senior studying biological sciences.
Williams, a sophomore studying communication, was the last to perform.
“I felt terrible for a lot of the performers before me,” Williams said. “But honestly, it was just fate. It was such a rough night for everyone. We were hoping and praying everything would go right.”
Chris Gammon, a sophomore studying paper science and chemical engineering, said the sound tech was not optimal for the setting at Stafford Commons.
“The instrumental audio and vocal audio were being channeled through the same two speakers which weren’t quite capable of doing so at such a high volume to reach the entire crowd,” Gammon said.
Regan Lane, a sophomore studying animal science, said she was disappointed with the sound quality.
“All of the performers were really good, so I felt bad that they had to deal with that,” she said. “It was impressive that they kept on going and kept their enthusiasm, though.”
The Ladies in Red and Williams succeeded despite the poor sound quality and are excited to open for the Emmy award-winning artist.
Ishak said the Ladies in Red were in disbelief when they heard the announcement.
“We were totally fangirling,” Ishak said. “It’s a total dream come true. When they said our name, I was like ‘Is this really happening?’”
Williams said he is grateful for the opportunity.
“It’s a huge opportunity I think to be able to do something with this magnitude,” Williams said. “As a young artist, it’s nice to get a lot of exposure. You don’t think these kinds of doors will be open at 19.”
Because the Ladies in Red and Williams received such a close number of votes, UAB’s advisor felt that both of them should be selected to open for Tori Kelly. It has not yet been decided if the two will perform together or separately.
Audience voting and a judging panel determined the winner of the competition. Audience voting had 70 percent of the vote and was done online.
Khari Cyrus, student body president, BeeJay Anya, forward on the men’s basketball team, Blaise Boleman, president of UAB, and Miah Spencer, captain of the women’s basketball team, were the judges on the panel. They judged based on stage presence, audience appeal, voice quality and overall thoughts.
Ishak said having students open for this year’s homecoming headliner is a great idea.
“This is a chance for everyone at NC State to see the absolute talent that is here,” Ishak said.
Williams said he is nervous but excited to be on stage with Tori Kelly.
“It’s going to be fun being on stage,” Williams said. “It’s not just a NC state gig; it’s so much more than that.”
The competition was a part of Campout, an event sponsored by Student Government, UAB and University Recreation. More than 1,000 students received six loyalty points for attending Campout and spending the night on Miller Fields.
