A roomful of heads bumped to the rhythm of a Marques Houston song as Caleb Miner pretended to belt out the song's last words, throwing his all into correlating dance steps.
The human biology sophomore, dressed like Houston in a baggy yellow T-shirt and jeans, danced in the middle of 14 other people in a classroom for a final practice before Saturday's performance in "Fake the Funk."
Miner, along with 75 other performers, will compete in the 15th annual "Fake the Funk" show this weekend — the last one, according to the show's organizers.
"In terms of perhaps the fervor, the excitement, it's still… I don't know if the excitement is at its peak," said event coordinator Josh Gillespie, who's been involved with the show for 13 years. ""As opposed to have it retire because it's boring, let's let it retire while there's still some excitement for it."
"Fake the Funk," a lip-sync contest that incorporates elements of dance, artist impersonation and a lot of energy, has drawn crowds of more than 6,000 people each year.
"Most likely, this is it," Gillespie said. "It's really a 90 percent chance that this will be the last one."
It's not yet known what will replace "Fake the Funk."
"We haven't even discussed it; we're so bombarded with auditions and getting ready for the show," said criminal justice senior Meagan Mason, president and community service director of Bombsquad Productions, the student group that coordinates the show.
"As to what (Bombsquad Productions) will do, it hasn't been discussed. There are so many creative individuals, I'm sure they'll come up with something exciting," she added.
A number of factors led to shutting down the show, Gillespie said, but most go back to the event's long-running history.
It began in Brody Hall, which it quickly outgrew, Gillespie said. After a number of years, it got too big for its other venue, the Auditorium, so it moved to Breslin Center, where it saw its largest crowds.
The audience is made up of people from all around the state — especially high school students who travel to MSU to watch, Gillespie said.
Gillespie said he believes another show can take its place and see a long-term run, as long as it's consistent.
"It's primarily about being creative," Gillespie said. "It's time for something new."
Fans of "Fake the Funk," such as finance sophomore Lauran Newkirk, say it's going to be hard to give it up.
"I've actually been coming to 'Fake the Funk' for four years," said Newkirk, who will be performing for the first time this year. "I'm mad it's the final show, particularly this year."
That's not the only major announcement facing the show. This year's performance will be held off campus for the first time, at the Don Johnson Field House at Eastern High School, 220 N. Pennsylvania Ave., in Lansing.
"Actually, I think it'll make it better," Mason said. "It's much like the Auditorium, where it's kind of close. People that do come to the show will feel that close-knit feel that it used to be at the Auditorium."
Since this year's show is the finale, more elements will be added.
Seven lip-sync acts, two fashion shows, a step show, performances by campus dance groups Spartan Soul Dance Team and Urban Dreams and a hip-hop violinist are expected. The show will emphasize audience participation and the close atmosphere of the new venue will lend itself to that, Mason said.
"This time around, we've been saying we're pulling out all the stops," Mason said.
Acts represented this year include Young Jeezy, Omarion, Kanye West, Jennifer Lopez and TLC.
Putting an act together requires a lot of dedication, said Miner, who is in "O. & Co.," a 15-person act performing a compilation of B2K, Omarion and Marques Houston songs.
"Through time and research, we watched a lot of videos, looked at a lot of how the artists present themselves at concerts," Miner said. "We mixed that with our own ideas, put it together, made a masterpiece."
"CTE," the largest group with 25 people, will sing a compilation of Young Jeezy songs. Most of the performers in the group are new to "Fake the Funk" this year, but said they don't want to see the show go.
"It's part of our culture, too," said mechanical engineering sophomore Ronnie Williams. "People reach out to it, give us a way to express ourselves."
Theatre freshman Jon Ebel is performing in "Fake the Funk" for the second time, this year as Justin Timberlake in a collection of Timberlake and Usher songs.
Last year, he drove to MSU two hours from home in Grosse Ile to participate as a backup dancer in both an Usher and a Destiny's Child act.
"It's a huge venue everyone can go watch and have fun," Ebel said. "They should expand on it. Something doing so well, almost at its peak, stopping — I wish it wouldn't be like that."
