“It’s a lot of fun working with Varsity Vocals, seeing behind the scenes and putting it together,” said Amanda Farmer, a psychology junior and president of Capital Green. “It’s fun for us to be able to show off our campus, kind of a State pride thing.”

Eight groups will compete in Saturday’s events, including groups from the University of Michigan, the University of Illinois, Grand Valley State University, University of Wisconsin and Mount Marty College in Yankton, S.D.

Each group has 12 minutes to perform in front of three judges, who score based on vocal performance and visual cohesiveness, ICCA Producer and former Capital Green member Andrea Kovac said. The two groups receiving the highest scores at each quarterfinal will move on to the semifinal, and the winner of the six semifinals across the country and in Europe/South Africa will head to New York City to compete in the finals at the end of April.

Many MSU a cappella groups boast a successful history in ICCA, and Capital Green is no exception. They have placed in the quarterfinals many times, and last year they won the quarterfinal at U-M, which allowed them to continue on to the semifinals in Chicago.

Farmer said the group enjoys performing in front of a judge, and hopes to do better this year.

“It gives us an incentive to be the best we can, to see how far we can go,” Farmer said. “It helps to know we have judges who will hold us accountable.”

This year, Capital Green will perform “Car Crash” by Matt Nathanson, “Between the Lines” by Sara Bareilles and “All the Above” by Maino featuring T-Pain.

Another MSU a cappella group, Spartan Dischords, will be assisting in the competition, but will not compete. They were asked by Capital Green to help by performing between groups and while the judges are deliberating, serving in an MC capacity, said Matt Schurig, a political theory and constitutional democracy senior and the president of Spartan Dischords.

“We’d be the perfect MCs for an event like this,” Schurig said. “We don’t take ourselves too seriously. We’re more about entertainment. We’re a lot more laid-back and just like to have fun. Our motto is ‘A Fine Blend of Harmony and Humor’ and we try to stick pretty close to that.”

In addition to the eight groups competing, a ninth group, MSU’s State of Fifths, originally was scheduled to compete, but cannot appear since five of the groups 15 members have unavoidable conflicts. The group is looking forward to next year’s competition.

“We are a second-year group, so we’re pretty much brand-new, so we wanted to go for the experience and have a fun time,” said Evan Stewart, a political theory and constitutional democracy junior and secretary for MSU’s State of Fifths. “We were all really, really excited that (ICCA) liked us, especially since we’re so young — that made it all the more difficult to decide not to go.”

But they, along with the Spartan Dischords, will be at Saturday’s competition to support Capital Green.

“From an MSU standpoint, we’re quite excited for Capital Green,” Schurig said. “We’re going to be out there supporting them and hopefully the student body will be as well.”

Tickets for the show are $10 for students and $15 for adults, and are available at the door or online at varsityvocals.com.