It’s on! Lip Sync battle tonight in Bresnan

The Lip Sync Battle at Minnesota State University, Mankato is one of the many homecoming traditions that never disappoints. 

Despite the battle being hosted virtually last year due to COVID-19, there was no lack of students who still wanted to participate. Teams followed social distancing regulations and stayed six feet apart. (Last year’s winners was a group of girls called the “Sears Squad” from the Julius Sears dorm building. The Sears Squad has won the Lip Sync Battle for the last two years.)

This year, however, students will be allowed to attend the event in person, with the only regulation being that everyone must wear a face mask. 

The lip sync battle is waged by teams consisting of fraternities, sororities or friend groups that pick out songs to perform. All songs and performances must follows the rules and prop requirements set by the Student Events Team and the homecoming theme that year. This year’s homecoming theme is the State Fair. 

MSU junior Ryan Leistikow, who is a member of the Students Event Team, said the lip sync battle is more than just a competition.

“It is borderline theatrical. It is more than just a musical performance because of the different props and songs they do. They go all out. In the past, groups have even done full costumes,” Leistikow said.

Senior Will Keebler said, “The groups really go all in for this. There are full-on dance routines, we have a full light production. A lot of people show up every year. 

“Some people don’t think it is all that, but if you go it’s actually a really big event a lot of people get really excited for. It is something I think that if you go with your friends, you’re definitely going to have a lot of fun watching the group,” he said. 

There are five judges who vote on the winners. The Student Events Team will also be crowning the royalty at this year’s Lip Sync Battle. 

Despite the seriousness of this battle the teams still manage to put on an amusing show. 

“They’re very serious about winning. It is such a good thing and it brings the campus together, it gets all the groups engaged to compete against each other and to win,” Leistikow stated. 

Added Keebler, “They make fun of themselves and they make fools of themselves. The teams are very competitive about it, so in that way it’s serious. But they’re not trying to be cool, that’s not the goal, the goal is to win.”

This year’s battle takes place 7 p.m. today in the Bresnan Arena.