It’s another quiet Sunday in Irvine as you stroll through the student center on your way to grab some coffee. You put on your headphones and take a quick check of your surroundings; it seems just like any other weekend here at UCI. The campus is empty for the most part, with the exception of a few lone students looking for a quiet study space. Lost in your music, you are startled by the appearance of a purple Teletubby. You laugh at the absurdity of the sight, but you brush it off and keep walking anyway. Out of the corner of your eye you see a glimpse of what appears to be a man dressed in an ASUCI t-shirt and a horse mask over his head. Okay, this is getting a little too weird. You begin to wonder if you missed the memo for “walk-around-campus-in-the-most-bizarre-outfit-you-can-find-day.” You turn the corner and stop in your tracks. You look around to see hundreds of students in equally strange outfits singing and dancing in unison. Suddenly, you begin to feel a little underdressed. You spot a member of ASUCI and decide to ask them what the heck is going on, hoping they can make some sense out of this crazy situation. The blue-shirted stranger laughs at your confused expression and informs you that today is UCI’s first annual Lip Dub- an event where various campus organizations come together to lip sync a popular song in one continuous camera shot.
You feel as if you are in the center of a movie as you try and take it all in.You are definitely not used to seeing all these diverse groups interacting in one place. Your curiosity begins to get the best of you as you make your way towards the terrace. To your left, you see a group of students playing various musical instruments while rolling around in office chairs. To your right, you see breakdancing on tables and sword fighting. As if that weren’t strange enough, you are really caught off guard by the sight of an equestrian rider perched atop a live horse. A familiar tune begins to play as the crowd goes crazy with anticipatory excitement. The first half of the lip dub is set to the catchy song made popular by 500 Days of Summer, “You Make My Dreams Come True” by Hall and Oates. Everyone appears to be having the time of their lives as they continue to practice the specific roles they will play come filming time. UCI’s famous “Swag Man” is spotted in the distance, as a member of Circle K dressed as Deadmau5 chases him down to request his appearance in the performance.
Moving along, three swagged out men representing the members of the band Hot Chelle Rae prepare for the second half of the Lip Dub set to their song “Tonight, Tonight.” The energy continues as various fraternities and sororities show their spirit by waving pompoms and swaying to the beat. You look up and see nine girls sitting atop the tunnel holding up the letters of the Hollywood sign. From this sight alone you can see just how serious the Anteaters were when they said they wanted to make this event unforgettable. As the camera pans to Aldrich Park and the run-through comes to a close, everyone begins to pump themselves up for the final take.
ASUCI team members with signs and clipboards begin to run through the crowds getting everyone hyped up for live filming in just a few moments. The cameraman emerges from behind closed doors and the crowd gives it their all with their most enthusiastic performance yet. It is a perfectly orchestrated production that runs flawlessly until the very end. Peter the Anteater greets everyone as blue and gold balloons fill the air in celebration of a successful Lip Dub.
After witnessing all this excitement, your mind is blown and you forget just why you came to the student center in the first place. It is amazing to see how all these unique groups collaborated together to pull off this single event. The school spirit in the air was contagious. Though this was UCI’s first Lib Dub, there is no doubt that it is going to become a new tradition on campus. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be a part of this crazy random, yet orchestrated fun next year?