Despite the cold and the rain about 75 students came to see the “Open Mic Finals.”

A five-hour recording session at Pogo Studios in Champaign was on the line for the four performers.

Performer EJ Singson won the support of the crowd and the recording session.

“I don’t even know what to say,” Singson said about winning. “Honestly, it’s a surprise and I’m excited.”

Singson describes his music as an experimental progressive in acoustic guitar.

“My goal is to really break the barriers of acoustic guitar,” he said.

At times it looked as if he was playing a piano on the guitar’s neck. He also hit his guitar as if was a set of bongos at times.

Breaking barriers on the guitar is not the only barrier Singson breaks. When he names his songs he gives them long names that he calls obnoxious. One of his songs was titled “It’s smooth sailing, but what if the pirates kill us.”

With the recording session, Singson really doesn’t know if he can get out to the whole world but wants to share his music with others.

“Definitely anybody that’s willing to listen, I’d definitely love for them to hear,” he said.

Another stand out performance was done by Willie Griggs.

His hip-hop style of music included songs: “Truth about my city” and “Retrospect.”

Griggs received the most response from the crowd when he freestyled on a harmonica.

“When I write I draw my inspiration from my experiences in life and just going throught the motions with living,” Griggs said. “In general, I feel like my life story is not a usual one.”

To start out the night Scott Chaplinski took the stage with his acoustic guitar.

He performed his folk rock style of music with original songs, such as “Stay Kind” and “Shoes.”

“I just tried to have fun, and that feels a lot better than trying to do good I think,” Chaplinski said.

Inspiration comes from Joni Mitchell, oldies and anything on vinyl, he said.

Next, Brad Curtis took the stage with his unnamed band.

“I think sounded really good,” Curtis said. “Everything went really well, so I was really happy about that.”

Inspiration for them comes from underground artists Matt Wertz and Dave Barnes, but also from Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Lynyrd Skynyrd, he said.

“I think the night went extremely well,” said Pat Lamorte, University Board Mainstage coordinator. “We had a turnout as I expected, and everybody was great.”

Also, Levi Bulgar, student vice-president for business affairs, made his comedic debut, while votes were being tabulated. His routine included jokes about Sesame Street and the reality of Barbie dolls.