After the buzz of Valentine’s and a wondrous four day weekend, School’s back and session and the counting down until spring break starts up! While some of us are daydreaming about warm weather and beaches, others are reflecting on last Thursday, February 12th, and the singing that took place.

Singing telegrams, a staple feature to South,  has been around for as long as anyone can remember, and the Southerner website has videos of proof on how many students loved to sing. While anyone can audition, it seems that theatre and choir students at South dominate the singing telegram scene with their participation.

“It’s a collaborative process,” senior Izzy Rousmaniere, a choir singer and actress in the South theatre department, said while talking about the process of auditioning for singing telegrams. “We [Her and student Betty Mfaulingandi] work with the theatre department and various students to help judge all the groups.”

Auditions for singing telegrams are a bit of a lengthy process, choosing a song, having some good music, and of course having some nice dance moves, so it’s something that you can’t just put together in five minutes. The song has to be appropriate enough to pass through assistant principal Dagney and it has to be captivating enough for students to watch.

Once a group of students, ranging anywhere from two to eight, audition to an audience made up of the theatre and choir department and get the OK, it’s time to wait for people to start paying for and scheduling singing their telegrams. On the Thursday before we went on break, we had a day filled with singing and love!

Many of the groups this year are using classic songs like ‘Kiss me thru the phone” by Soulja Boy or “One thing” by One Direction, but there are also some unique songs like ‘You and I” Ingrid Michaelson that made it into the set list this year. Sophomore Oliver Elias,who sang ‘Walking on sunshine” with three of his other friends elaborates on the idea of why singing telegrams is such a popular thing at South

“Tis the season of Valentine’s day,” Elias says when asked what makes singing telegrams so popular. “Everyone’s excited because it’s a fun day.” Rousmaniere couldn’t agree more.

“It’s a fun thing that happens in the day and it helps the class connect personally to what’s going on.” Rousmaniere concludes. Check up later on the Southerner website to see some of the videos from 2016 singing telegrams!