Six student acts recently competed against each other for a $300 first place prize at LBCC’s annual Spring Sing, which featured an array of musical, dance and poetic performances.
The show opened with a play-like presentation by the PNK club, where group members dressed in attire from different decades and popped out of lifesize boxes, imitating Barbies.
Zaida Gutierrez, second vice president of PNK, explained the message of the group’s act.
“Women had to change their style so many times just to prove a point to people. I know that back in the day a lot of people told women what to wear, what they should wear but women didn’t listen to that so they just went ahead and wore what they wanted to wear,” Gutierrez said.
The next act was by the Tong Lil Sisters, April Aguila and Lupe Martinez, who sang “I Can’t Stop Singing” from Teen Beach Movie while dancing along to a choreographed routine.
After the Tong Lil Sisters, two more duos took the stage, with the International Student’s Club being represented by two singers who covered “Cherry Wine” by Grent Perez and “Love Never Felt So Good” by Michael Jackson.
The Seaside Music Duo featured William Su on electric guitar and Alexander Vega on double bass who covered Laufey’s song “From the Start” together.
Seaside Music Duo guitarrist William Su performing in the 2025 LBCC Spring Sing talent show on Thursday, April 24. (Jose Calix)
Tulaly Olgin followed with a short poem about moving on from a romantic relationship, and ultimately having to let that person go.
Markus Lim was the last act of the night and he broke out in high runs as he passionately sang “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing” by Tori Kelly.
Markus Lim singing into his mic during his performance of “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing” by Tori Kelly at the Spring Sing on April 24. (Paloma Maciel)
Soon after, eight golden plaque awards were given out to contestants with PNK winning half of them.
PNK won Best Props, Best Costume Design, Best Dramatic Performance, and Best Club Act.
The Seaside Music Duo won Best Open Act and Best Vocals for a Group, with Lim winning Best Vocals for a solo and the Tong Lil Sisters winning Best Choreography.
Traditionally LBCC’s Spring Sings have held a first, second, and third cash prize, however this year the eight awards were a new addition and only first place won a cash prize of $300.
Lim took home the first place prize of $300 alongside the Judges Choice Award plaque.
When asked if he expected to have won the competition, Lim said, “Not really, no. I don’t think I would of because it was just singing but and there was like other groups who had rehearsed acts like PNK, but I’m really glad.”
Lim also provided insight as to why he chose this song and how long he’s rehearsed it for.
“So this specifically (for this rehearsal) I could really only say like a week, but this song that I did specifically I’ve been working on for maybe a little over two years because this is a song that I perform repeatedly and like it’s my favorite which is why I did it,” Lim said.
“I’ve been singing my whole life, but seriously singing, I’ve been singing for around nine years,” said Lim.
The organizer of the Spring Sing, Derek Oriee, gave insight on the history of the Spring Sing.
“We’re losing momentum with the clubs and stuff, it wasn’t such a big event like it was in the 70s, 80s, 90s, they would sell out the auditorium every year. Sign of the times, you know students were changing, different interests, but we’ve always tried to keep the tradition going,” Oriee said.
Oriee participated in the Spring Sing in 1989 and 1991 representing The Order of Tong Club, he also created mixtapes for multiple groups performances once he graduated from LBCC.
“It was just really competitive, it was such a different feel, right now I feel like it’s just fun everyones having fun with each other back then it was really cutthroat. When we practiced, we weren’t allowed to say where we were practicing at because people were spying on each other, seeing what other clubs were doing,” Oriee said.