Friday May 18th the lights dimmed in the auditorium. The entire choir
marched out to their positions to begin the greatest show. The senior pop show, the last choir
show of each school year, took the combined effort of the seven choirs to put together. Senior
Matthew Wong explained how the choirs prepared for the show.

“We practiced everyday in class,” Wong said. “We also had practices outside of class
like on Monday nights for Chorale or Wednesday nights for Madrigal and sometimes all seven
choirs would have extra practices after school to rehearse choreography.”

This concert required so much rehearsal because it was so different from all of the other
concerts. Even as a freshman, Meredith Villanueva knew how different the two shows were.

“Everything about pop show was different from our other concerts,” Villanueva said. “The
music was different from the music we usually sang, like for UIL. My favorite difference was
probably the outfits. For all of our other concerts we had to wear the same dress, but for this
one we got some freedom to express ourselves. Pop show was a lot more fun in general
because it really hyped the energy. It was fun to learn choreography for the songs and it was
kind of a way to relax from all of the other competitions we had.”

Like Villanueva, many others had a favorite part of Pop show. Senior Katie Heideman
had a special place in her heart for the senior solos.

“My favorite part of Pop show was all of the soloists because in class you did not really
get to hear everyone’s individual voice all the time,” Heideman said. “When they got up there
and sing their solos it was like oh my gosh they had that in them?”

All seniors were given a chance to sing a solo at Pop show. The one’s who chose to
participate practiced in many different ways.

“On my own I listened to the karaoke version to the song and sang along to it,”
Heideman. “I had it on repeat in my car for a solid month because I was so excited to be singing
it and having been given the opportunity to do so.”

It was not only the opportunity to sing a solo that made Pop show so much different for
seniors, it was also the emotion that played into their last show.

“This Pop show was definitely different from the last three I participated in,” Wong said. “Being a senior played into it in terms of the social aspect because it was my last show. It was
definitely an emotional show. This was my fourth year in choir so I had done it four times and it
made me want to put as much energy as I could into it because I wanted to go out with a bang.”

Heideman was especially excited for her last high school choir show and her very own
senior solo.

“I honestly could not have been more excited,” Heideman said. I had been waiting for this concert since my freshman year when I joined choir. I could not wait to see all of my friends sing their awesome solos and rock it. I really enjoyed all the music and seeing everyone get so excited to be singing. I loved all of the dances because everyone looked like a fool but we are all a fool together. It was really cool to see everyone united in their foolishness for one last time. It was definitely sad to see this chapter of my life end but I was excited to see what happened next.”

All of the choir’s practice paid off, and as Wong intended, the seniors went out with a bang.