On March 28th, the Sophomore Class of 2012 hosted the 30th annual Songfest entitled: “Battle of the Bands” at the FDMS Phoenix Center. As host, we hoped to highlight our schools rich history of brotherhood, our value of togetherness, our unity and ability to “band together”. Judging from the performances, it was evident that our young men have learned these lessons well.

Armed with a simple premise, each class picks a band and performs three songs from that band, as well as an original song written by each class.  The graduating class of 2010 chose “Kool and the Gang”, while the juniors chose “Queen”.  The host class (2012) selected “Earth, Wind and Fire” and lastly, the freshmen class selected the “Jackson 5”.

The Junior Class opened the program with their spectacular renditions of “Queen” classics like “I Want to Break Free”, “Another One Bites the Dust”, “Bohemian Rhapsody” as well as their “Queen-esque” Original Piece.

With the junior Class setting the tone for the night, the next class to perform were the seniors.  With this their last time on stage, the class of 2010 were not going out without with a fight.  They performed a skit depicting their final months here at FDMS while dancing to “Ladies Night”, “Get Down On It”, “Celebration” and their Original Piece, truly depicting it was their time to shine.

After intermission, the freshmen class made their Songfest debut.  They entered the stage with playful and energetic numbers like “Blame It On the Boogie”, “Rockin’ Robin”, and “ABC” with their Original Piece sung acapella.  Lastly, the Sophomore Class performed to groovy and funky tunes like “Boogie Wonderland”, “Let’s Groove”, “September” as well as their very unique Original Piece.

The Judges sure had so much to deliberate on, each class had strong points in every performance, and it was a matter of who “out-performed” the other. In the end, the Junior Class came out victorious. One Judge mentioned that it was their performance as a whole that blew them away! Second place was a tie between the Sophomores and the Seniors, with the Freshmen in 3rd place. Many agreed that each class “stepped-up” from last year and made the entire event great!

Additionally, the Sophomores set new records for Songfest by selling over 52 corporate/family tables, 1,500 tickets and “packed the house” with an astonishing 2,000 spectators. Aside from receiving positive reviews after the event, the class of 2012 exceeds their own expectations. The  Sophomores view this event as a way to pass the torch to the younger generations. Each class learns and improves from the years before, and makes for friendly competition and bragging rights. In the end, they realized that organizing Songfest is a way to make it different from all the others, to truly be creative. Nevertheless, we couldn't’t have done any of this without the love and support from our Parents and Guardians.  Also, a huge thanks to our Advisor, Mr. Emmanuel “Chito” Santos who helped out throughout the planning and dynamics of the entire event.