Students compete in UI’s Homecoming Jingle Contest
Students at the University of Idaho excel at mixing Vandal pride with outlandish enthusiasm, and it was proven once again at the Vandal Jingle Contest Wednesday night in the Student Union Building Ballroom.
Over the years, the contest has become a Homecoming tradition, but the songs, dances and skits performed by groups are anything but traditional. The theme of this year’s event was, “Once Upon a Homecoming,” with each of the 16 teams assigned to a fairy tale.
Each group was challenged to take a classic tale, make it funny and — most importantly — use it to get the crowd cheering and ready to take on New Mexico State at the Homecoming football game Saturday.
While the competing teams were largely Greek, there was also a non-Greek judging category this year that included the Residence Hall Association, Steel House and Theophilus Tower Floors 5 and 6.
After opening with Saturday Night Live’s “Real Housewives of Disney” skit to get the audience ready, Emily Rasch, the 2014 Homecoming assistant chair, introduced the competing teams.. Each jingle had three minutes as its maximum length, so teams had to work hard to pack as much talent and comedy into routines as possible.
Sigma Alpha and Alpha Gamma Rho started the night off by telling the story of a brave Vandal who had to fight off a New Mexico Aggie by undressing to his “bare necessities.”
Alpha Phi and Sigma Alpha Epsilon went next, acting out a house of sorority of girls who mysteriously turned into frat stars whilst a fraternity of boys became basic sorority girls. This team — like many of the groups — poked fun at Greek stereotypes for the sake of humor.
Delta Zeta and Lambda Chi Alpha took the stage next, decked out in costumes to tell the story of what happens when Alice gets tired of Wonderland and ends up at New Mexico State, which has turned dry by their archrival, Pistol Pete, under the guise of global warming.
RHA went next, singing a reworked version of “Pure Imagination,” or “Vandal Nation,” from the film, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”
Kappa Delta and Delta Sigma Phi went into the jungle with a song from “Tarzan.” The jungle-dwellers beat the Aggies with the crowd’s enthusiasm … and with a strategically placed baseball bat.
Alpha Gamma Delta and Theta Chi sang a mashup of songs from “Mulan,” with their centerpiece devoted to trying to “Make a Vandal Out of You” to defeat the Aggies and to find “A Team Worth Fighting For.”
Theta Xi was assigned “Robin Hood,” and they diverged from Disney, choosing instead to sing the title song from Mel Brooks’ “Robin Hood: Men in Tights.” Robin Hood coached the lagging Vandaleers to victory by teaching them about “being men,” despite Robin’s shorts and heeled leather boots.
Two singers from Steel House sang “Almost There,” from “The Princess and the Frog,” reworking the lyrics from starting a business to training for the big game.
Theophilus Tower floors 5 and 6 chanted “Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum,” military style, and urged the Vandals to “unleash the beast.”
Delta Gamma and Phi Delta Theta told the story of Captain Jack Sparrow, who washed up on the “driest of lands,” Greek Row. Though the fraternities and basic sorority girls confused him, the fraternity members were able to send him back in time, thanks to the Vandals.
Gamma Phi Beta and Pi Kappa Alpha sang songs from “The Lion King” and introduced Simba, a young frat boy, with a sparse mustache in lieu of a mane, who needed to learn how to talk to girls.
Delta Delta Delta and Alpha Kappa Lamda repainted the story of the three little pigs as rush week for potential sorority members. Fraternity boys played the over-enthusiastic freshmen. Ultimately, the pigs said Homecoming is about finding a place to come home to.
Phi Gamma Delta, commonly referred to as FIJI, retold the story of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” by having an old man read the story to two children, inadvertently confusing the character of Quasimodo with Rudy, the underdog football player from Notre Dame,
Kappa Alpha Theta and Kappa Sigma sang, “Let it Go” from “Frozen,” and claimed, “the score never bothered us anyway.”
Kappa Kappa Gamma and Beta Theta Pi reenacted “Peter Pan,” complete with a cardboard alligator, which ate the opponent. Instead of “I Can Fly,” the team sang “We Can Try.”
Finally, Phi Kappa Tau sang another medley from “The Lion King,” complete with body paint and animal ears. One of the boys gave roses to his brother with the song “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.”
The winners were announced shortly after the competition ended. In the residence hall category, RHA took first, with Tower Floors 5 and 6 coming in second and Steel House finishing third. Alpha Gamma Delta won the sorority category, while Kappa Alpha Theta and Kappa Delta came in second and third, respectively. In the fraternity category, Theta Chi came in first, followed by Kappa Sigma and Delta Sigma Phi.
This was an especially proud moment for the Alpha Gamma Delta sisters, as it is their second year winning the contest. Last year, they took home the gold under the theme “Vandal Pride World Wide,” and they’re happy to be keeping their victories going.
“The participants in our house and our partner house practiced for almost two weeks. It was mostly singing, so we wanted to make sure everyone was together and prepared,” said Ryann Mata, an Alpha Gamma Delta sister. “The practice definitely paid off.”
Even the teams who went home empty-handed enjoyed the cheering and Vandal pride.
“I think it went really well,” Rasch said. “We had a really great theme this year, so it allowed everyone to be really creative with their skits. We packed the SUB, which is hundreds of people and everyone really looks forward to this event every year.”
The entire event is planned and coordinated by the 16 members of the Homecoming Committee and their two advisors, who work to coordinate with the chairs and teams to keep everything running smoothly.
Sam Koester, the marketing and promotions chair, is responsible for promoting all of the homecoming events, especially through social media and including this year’s push for #vandalhomecoming, which is a way for students to connect with each other and see what is going on throughout the week.
“I think this year’s jingle contest was awesome, I love homecoming,” Koester said.
Alyssa Baugh can be reached at [email protected]