It may be hard to imagine K-pop bands, a cappella groups and improv comedians sharing the same stage, but Trojan Pride’s Songfest brought USC artists of all interests together over their shared love of music for a friendly competition on Thursday night at Bovard Auditorium.  

Six groups had the chance to perform and potentially win $1,000. The winner, UnderSCore A Cappella, was determined by audience vote at the end of the night. 

Hannah Nguyen, co-director of Trojan Pride and a senior majoring in business administration, said organizers were encouraged by the increased attendance at Songfest, which drew about 200 audience members.

“In a couple years, I do hope that we continue that trend and we can become something big, or something students look forward to when they do go to USC,” Nguyen said.

This year, Songfest featured multiple student performances from Band Kori, Sirens A Cappella, The Trojan Men, UnderSCore A cappella, Mariachi Los Troyanos de USC and USC Musicians’ Club. 

“Other students want to support their friends, so just coming out and coming here to vote for them,” Nguyen said. ”It just brings in the USC community.” 

Songfest was originally held by another student organization, Troy Camp, before the event transitioned to Trojan Pride, which primarily hosts events celebrating USC Athletics, like the Conquest Week Bonfire. 

Grace Zhuang, assistant director of Trojan Pride and a junior majoring in international relations, said that while the organization may be known for its athletic spirit, they are interested in celebrating all types of Trojan spirit, including the arts. 

The first performance of the night was Band Kori, a group of students that covers K-pop hits. The group had multiple singers, guitarists and keyboardists, and they sang K-pop group SEVENTEEN’s “Cheers to youth.” 

Next was Sirens A Cappella. The group sang Daft Punk and Adele compilations with beatboxing by Nations, a senior majoring in theatre. 

USC Musicians’ Club followed with short snippets of songs across multiple different genres from Jazz-pop singer Laufey to disco-funk Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.” The keyboardist for USC Musicians’ Club, Sriram Seshadri, a junior majoring in applied and computational mathematics as well as pursuing a master’s degree in biomedical engineering, said playing this year at Songfest created one of his favorite feelings: watching the audience as he plays. 

“The most exciting thing is probably looking for my friends while we play,” Seshadri said. “In between songs — the two-second gap — I’m always just looking for my friend[s], scouting out the whole audience.”

He also said Songfest allows an opportunity for growth as a musician. He has been involved with Songfest over the last three years and each year, he learns more about the collaboration and hard work needed for the live performance. 

“One thing that’s pretty characteristic is just how improvisational you need to be as a musician, as someone contributing to the band’s music,” Seshadri said. “It’s taught me how to solo, how to build up ideas in a solo and then transfer it off to another instrumentalist who’s gonna carry the solo on.”

Seshadri said he always looks for performing opportunities, and Songfest permits the broader musical community at USC to perform; not only students who are studying music. 

“USC is obviously one of the best for music. So I can get why people would feel pressured as not being music majors to perform publicly,” Seshadri said. “But I think Trojan Pride is doing an amazing job, and they should host more similar events like Songfest, where non-music majors don’t need to feel pressure and can just relax and have fun.”

Up next, UnderSCore A Cappella performed “Thriller” by Michael Jackson and gave a heartfelt rendition of “Jason’s Song (Gave It Away)” by Ariana Grande.

Dressed in suits, the Trojan Men brought comedic energy and confidence to the stage. They sang an arrangement of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” and a compilation full of songs with California in the lyrics, including “California Love” and “California Dreamin’.” 

The last group, Mariachi Los Troyanos de USC, was dressed to the nines too, with their matching cardinal-and-gold outfits. They performed “Serenata Huasteca” and “Potpourrí ranchero (Copitas de mezcal, La tequilera, La charreada),” and finished with “Los Laureles.”

“Songfest is an event where students can really demonstrate their talent and their growth too, throughout the year,” Zhuang said. “Songfest is a really good opportunity for all of these bands to come out and show their USC spirit.”

The end of the event called for a vote from the audience, resulting in UnderSCore A Cappella taking first place, followed by Mariachi Los Troyanos de USC and the Trojan Men, rounding out the rest of the top three.

Disclaimer: Grace Zhuang is a magazine writer at the Daily Trojan. Zhuang was not involved in the coverage of this event.