By ALEXANDER WHEELER
Features Editor
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Brought back by popular demand, the College’s student body saw the return of the Saint Rose Music Awards in Saint Joe’s. Featuring six student performances, the night was filled with great vocals and sick beats.
The event took place on Friday, Nov. 14, and was put on by the Student Events Board and was a first-class red carpet event. Featuring the likes of GK Dance, Brian Jay, the ALANA steppers, The Girls Next Door, and some freshman performers including the vibrant Alexander Lawrence, the night went rather smoothly with a few bumps here or there–which is to be expected from any sort of event of this caliber. Sometimes the Academy Awards even have a few glitches–remember when James Franco and Anne Hathaway hosted it a few years ago?
The event featured a plethora of MCs and hosts including the likes of Mike Aurrichio, Katie Klimacek, Katie Maher, Priscilla Ly, Brittany O’Hea and many more.
Each award was presented following a sound bite from the nominated artists.
The winners are listed below:
A Capella: Girls Next Door
Acoustic/Folk: Kaleb Catricala
Alternative: Christopher Coak ley
Dance: ALANA Steppers
Gospel: His Image Gospel Choir
Pop: Michael Razzano & Zachary Grappone
R&B/ Hip Hop: Brian Jay
Best Group: ALANA Steppers
Best Male Solo: Alexander Lawrence
Best Female Solo: Becca Sacca
Brian Jay Award: Brian Jay
The night really took off after the pop-rap duo DNK took the stage for a final performance to end the night. The results included a storm of dancing Saint Rose students and Saint Joe’s filled with excitement.
DNK features David Michael Davis and Kyla Marie Erb and they cover mostly any top 40 feeling and good time music.
When it took the stage, DNK performed a mash-up of various top singles on the radio including “Dark Horse” by Katy Perry and “Holy Grail” by Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake. The rest of the set list included some original songs and covers of “Ignition” and “Can’t Hold Us.”
DNK released a self-titled EP back in March and it is available on iTunes.
The duo has been together for a year and a half with Erb hailing from Spokane, Washington and Davis coming from Wheaton, Illinois. The two met at Belmont University and have been doing their thing ever since.
After DNK took the stage at the Saint Rose Music Awards, the crowd jumped out of its seats and started to sway to the music. After what seemed like a night of untapped potential in terms of execution, DNK swooped in and lifted Saint Rose’s spirit.
When asked to sum the event up in one word, followed by one sentence, President and Vice President (Priscilla Ly and Brittany O’Hea, respectively) of SEB had these statements to say:
Ly: “Bizarre,” followed by, “It wrapped up wonderfully.”
O’Hea: “Spectacular,” followed by, “Seeing everyone getting engaged with the band at the end makes it all worth it.”
Whatever the Saint Rose Music Award’s shortcomings may have been, the night came together and culminated in an effective celebration of the talent that we have on the campus here at The College of Saint Rose. If any club could put something like this together, it’s SEB – and here is hoping that there are many more successful Saint Rose Music Awards to come.
