As the semester creeps closer and closer to one of the biggest events on campus, Mock Rock performers are confident that it will be a show worth attending.

There are several things that will be different for this year’s Mock Rock — no eemceeees, a new voting system, one line instead of two separate lines outside the door, and a new form of transitions in between each team.

“This show is going to be very video driven. So each group will have a behind the scenes video before they go on just kind of showing what went into putting together their Mock Rock, who they are as a team, kind of getting to know their personality a little bit before they go on,” said Mark Nesbitt, music and arts coordinator for AS.

RE-FOCUSING THE SHOW

The reasons behind these changes range from wanting to keep the audience engaged to making sure the focus of the night remains on the performers, Nesbitt said.

“There are no emcees this year. We felt in the past that there was kind of two separate shows, the emcee show and the Mock Rock, and so we wanted it to all to be about Mock Rock and all be about the teams and their hard work,” Nesbitt said.

Robyn Nakamura, senior sociology major and Bropoc team leader, is really excited to show the determination their team of 50 students has invested. Nakamura guarantees some surprises are in store during their performance.

“You don’t expect what’s coming next really at all,” Nakamura said. “There are people who have danced for ten years and then there are people who are just there to have fun and dance so it works out really well and then that makes for unexpected things to happen throughout.”

Bailee Bac, junior sociology major and one of the choreographers for Bropoc, explained how to make a dance different than other teams’ dances.

“It’s about finding good music and then mixed with different choreographers. And making sure that the people choreographing the certain dances are [working in] their area of expertise,” Bac said.

One team, It’s Whatever, is anxious to see how the audience is going to react to their new approach this year, as it is differs from their routines last year.

“I’m just excited to see how they [Biola] receive our storyline this year because it’s not as cute, Biola girl as last time… It’s just taking a different approach and I’m just excited to see how that goes over,” said Jenna Lucas, senior communications major and It’s Whatever team leader.

The Hot Pockets expect their performance will impress the audience. Matt Vasile, senior psychology and intercultural studies major and team leader of Hot Pockets, is excited for this year’s Mock Rock competition because it will be one of Biola’s best so far.

“I’ve seen Mock Rock since my freshman year and from what it sounds like, and from what it looks like people are preparing, this is going to be the best one. And I seriously mean that,” Vasile said. “Biola’s in for a real treat.”

While the competition will be undoubtedly tough, the Imagineers team is ready to have fun after all of the hard work they have invested over the semester.

“I feel like recently it’s been getting too competitive, too focused on how well you can dance and letting that be the judge of who wins and in my opinion it’s always been about having the most fun on stage,” said Ken Kahunahana, junior business management major and team leader for the Imagineers. “Being in a situation where everybody’s looking at you, the pressures on, and it doesn’t matter because you’re doing what you love with people that you love.”