Quinnipiac’s tenth annual Apollo Nite, sponsored by the Black Student Union and the Social Programming Board, featured comedienne Retta and five talented acts from Quinnpiac’s own students.
Retta has made television appearances on Comedy Central and UPN’s hit show Moesha, and she is currently filming “The Hook Up.”
Apollo Nite at Quinnipiac mirrored the original, with Akisha Ward appearing as “Kiki Sherpard,” and the audience played a role in deciding which act would ultimately win the competition.
The first performer was Kevin Swider, a Quinnipiac senior, who played the guitar and sang “Wild Horses.”
Swider admitted that he did not know whether the song’s original performer was Bob Dylan or The Rolling Stones, but he performed a good rendition of it.
Lauren Howard, a senior as well, got the crowd pumped with her energized performance of “I Will Survive.” The audience enthusiastically joined Howard by clapping along as she sang.
Rosanna Menta performed an awe-inspiring rendition of Mariah Carey’s hit “Can’t Take That Away.”
The crowd was silent and amazed by her powerful voice. Menta sang Mariah’s theme song better than Mariah.
Quinnpiac junior Zoe Houldsworth, performed an energetic dance routine to Michael and Janet Jackson’s song “Scream.” Houldsworth exhibited a great deal of talent as she danced gracefully about the stage.
The final act was Kim Telford and the Dance Mode Squad, who danced to a medley of songs including J-Lo’s hit single “Love Don’t Cost a Thing.”
The Dance Mode Squad, with all 18 girls wearing matching denim outfits, worked the crowd and got them pumped.
The combination of rhythmical hip-hop beats and their signature smooth choreography, which is created a hot performance, typical of the group.
With the help of Akisha Ward, the audience then judged the contestants by a show of applause.
Lauren Howard “survived” the cut and was awarded third place.
The audience applause showed a tie for first place between Rosanna Menta and The Dance Mode Squad.
The audience was then instructed to decide which act they liked the most and cheer only for that one as a tie breaker.
Though it still appeared to be extremely close, The Dance Mode Squad prevailed and won the competion and Rosanna Menta took second place. The prize was an award of $150.