Leesville’s 2011 prom planners are diversifying the dance’s soundtrack by asking students to request the songs that they would like to hear.
Puja Patel, junior, created a Facebook group to create awareness of the opportunity for juniors and seniors. Potential prom-attendees are encouraged to recommend the music that they want to hear at prom.
“We all collectively agreed that diversifying music was a good idea,” said Patel, junior and member of her class council. “We want people to come [to prom], obviously, and a lot of people think prom is just people grinding to rap music. We want to change that.”
Via Facebook group, Patel and the other junior class council members are taking down the names of song requests. For the most part, requests have been the “rap music” that the student council is trying to diversify. Specified artists are Nicki Minaj, Kid Cudi, Kanye West, and Far East Movement. Other students have recommended more obscure songs and artists, such as MGMT, Bon Iver, and Chiddy Bang.
“If we have an idea of what a lot of people like, we’re more likely to put it on the list,” explained Patel. “Of course, the songs have to be dance-able, so not every song the students post will be on the [final] list [of songs], but they will all be considered.”
After what most students considered a musical fiasco at the Winterfest dance, a selection of songs is even more important for an enjoyable prom.
Genevieve Haskell, senior and Winterfest-attendee, enjoyed the music. “Mr. Davis DJ’d, which was awesome,” said Haskell. “I could have used more upbeat music, and up to date rap songs, but other than that, I liked the music [at Winterfest].”
“The music was terrible,” a disappointed junior asserted via Facebook interview. “There are other danceable songs other than “We R Who We R…Maybe [the DJ could play] some black eyed peas, David Guetta, stuff like that.”
When recommending music, students were advised to keep their choices reasonable, as the songs have to be approved by the administration. The final list of compiled songs was submitted for consideration on February 15.
Virginia Reed is a superb writer and an even better friend. She enjoys unhealthy foods and writing sarcastic articles. Virginia is the Online Editor for the 2011-12 school year and was a Managing Editor for the 2010-11 year but has not forgotten her humble beginnings as a staff writer when she was a wee sophomore. Her goals for the future are to get an A in newspaper and to apply to college in a timely fashion.