This Spring Semester SPOT, the fresh princes of Houghton, seniors Garren Barna and Jon Eckendorf, hosted an excellent 90s-inspired SPOT. It was pretty much da bomb.
Bringing together numerous references from sitcom laugh tracks to a Full House spin-off, Garren and Jon fluidly brought the best of the 90s back while simultaneously avoiding many over-used Houghton clichés. Words and phrases like “community” and “ring by spring” were not uttered once- something that has never happened before in my decade of SPOT experiences.
The night’s transitions were in sync as 90s hit pop songs videos from Back Street Boys to Smash Mouth intermittently entertained the audience.
Buzz kills for the night were rare and far between. Certain skits were longer than desired (such as the five person dance mash-up), the Radiance skit left the audience confused, and the Pokémon pickup lines fell flat.
Furthermore, Houghton students were thrilled to finally see what has been chillin’ on the quad all week, but an awkward paws occurred, making the mascot reveal anti-climatic. Student athletes ran on stage excitedly only to slowly back into the shadows as a Highlander flag was waved and Houghton publicity photos were taken. The reveal would have benefitted from an athletic director or a coach introducing the mascot instead of a staggered excitement that dwindled the longer students stood on stage.
Also, the order of the acts and skits was weak. The CAB and SGA act, though clever, was long and slow when placed near the end; the act would have been more successful if placed earlier in the lineup.
Laura Johnson’s knock out performance of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” should have been put at the end of the night. The audience raised the roof with cheers and enthusiasm, yet because it was a tough act to follow once it ended the skits following dragged.
Overall though, the pros of the night far out weighed the cons. Often in SPOT, acts based on talent rather than humor feel awkward and out of place; yet, rather than feeling bored during the talent-based performances, I found myself impressed. For instance, the swing dance duos were impressive and full of energy, which created a fun and lively performance.
Strangely this SPOT did not hold any incredibly funny acts or films. No acts stood out as superior, but instead many performances were equally clever and entertaining.
Among the stronger performances of the night were the Shen Men Lion King parody (though Jason and Kendra, your baby looked fairly traumatized), the N-Sync vs. Backstreet Boys battle of the bands, and the “I Want it That Way” video.
In sum, it is safe to say that most Houghton students are happy that our parents decided to go to the bedroom and watch some cartoons back in the 90s so that we could enjoy some good ole’ family full chapel fun on a Saturday night two decades later. Congrats dawgs- SPOT was all that and a bag of chips.
