Special Olympics raised more than $2,000 Tuesday night in Northwestern’s first NU Idol competition, an event emcee and Medill senior Kim Mosser described as “a little bit of polka, a little bit of pornography, a little bit of everything.”
Weinberg sophomore Raymond Hah became the first NU Idol, winning $200 and a chance to sing the national anthem at tonight’s men’s basketball game. Allie Lind, a Communication sophomore, was first runner-up, and Communication senior Elena Reinert was second runner-up.
About 400 students attended the event in Cahn Auditorium. All proceeds will go to the Special Olympics Area 5 Illinois Games in May.
The first round of competition included 12 student performances, some self-composed, some with live instruments and some with choreographed dance moves.
Two professors also made special appearances. Chemistry Prof. Eberhard Zwergel, in a bow tie and rainbow suspenders, sang “I Feel Pretty” and danced with NU Idol Producer Katie Del Priore, a Communication sophomore. Slavic Studies Prof. Gary Morson sang “Someone to Watch Over Me.”
Zwergel said words from “Madame Butterfly” best described NU Idol:
“Sweetest night. Stars unending. And they are here tonight.”
Hah won the competition with a self-composed song about his best female friend from high school. “I was thinking of her one night, and the song came out five minutes later,” he said.
Hah’s fans held signs and wore shirts decorated with personal messages such as “You Are Our Sunshine Ray” and “Ray is a man who knows his instrument.”
The NU Idol judges were Economics Prof. Mark Witte, Music sophomore Katherine Kilgore and Weinberg junior Sebastian Van Kuyk.
Kuyk played the role of Simon Cowell, the “American Idol” judge known for being brutally critical.
“Amazing, loved it,” said Kuyk in response to
Weinberg junior Himal Agarwal’s performance of Usher’s “You Got It Bad.” Kuyk quickly added, “I mean, no, let’s be realistic here — you literally murdered my favorite song of all time with a chain saw.
“No, I’m kidding, that’s not my favorite song,” he quipped.
Witte’s judgments had a more academic twist.
“You get graded on an econ curve, which means no A’s,” he said — but he gave Agarwal’s performance a favorable review.
Several of the organizers participate in Special Olympics by coaching disabled athletes on Tuesday nights. But because the Special Olympics volunteers were attending NU Idol, the athletes came to them instead.
Del Priore, a Communication sophomore, said she thought the evening turned out well.
“I’m so happy with how everything turned out,” she said. “The contestants were cooperative and talented, the judges were amazing … I loved the interactions between the professors and students. It was a really good event for the NU community.”
