Spice Girls Rap Wins St Mike's Video Contest
One of the fun things about having your face plastered all over the Internet is that you sometimes get to judge contests of other people who like to make web videos.
Last week I gathered with other local media types to judge videos made by St. Michael's College students in a YouTube video competition.
To quote their press release:
Inspired by the popularity of YouTube and the presence of a central digital-media stream in the Saint Michael's College journalism department, students at the college were enticed into a video contest to capture the theme, “I Like St. Mike’s.”
We gathered at St. Michael's early on a snowy morning last week and were treated to bagels and coffee as we watched the various video entries. Seriously, I could watch this sort of thing ALL DAY. Lucky for me, that's my job (sort of).
The St. Mike's contest entries ran the full gamut, from a pop-fueled still montage to a personal family story (winner #3, who reminds me of me, eek!) to a fast-moving, tightly edited segment (honorable mention) to the two irresistible raps that won first and second place.
I mean, really, who can beat the Spice Girls? But I do have to say that the footage of the professor dancing with an orchid in the winning Spice Girl rap made me a wee bit uncomfortable. Same goes for the students dancing merrily with the dead lab cat. Still, it was a memorable video and already has over 2000 hits on YouTube.
In each of the videos that we watched that morning, creativity, talent, digital skill and originality were on display. See for yourself what the students of today are saying when asked to represent themselves:
Winners and winning videos of the 3-4-5 YouTube Video contest are:
1st place ($500), Jacob Girard, a sophomore biochemistry major
from Adams, Mass., and collaborators!
Watch the video!
2nd place ($200), Andrew Lanoue, a senior journalism major from
Orleans, Vt.
Watch
the video!
3rd place ($100), Jenn Robbins, a sophomore theater major from
Walpole, Mass.
Watch the video!
Honorable Mention ($50), Alexander Spinelli, a first-year
business major from Saratoga Springs, N.Y.,
Watch the video!
As someone who didn't have the Internet or digital video in college, I can't help but wonder what sort of videos I would have been making in my younger years if I had had the means. One can only hope they would have been half as creative as what these students came up with.
Hats off to St. Michael's for an innovative and inspiring video contest.
