Students were able to experience the “Entertainment Capital of the World” inside the University Grand Ballroom on Eastern’s campus Thursday.

Students rehearsed and practiced their dance moves just so they could take center stage and show the audience all of their hard work and dedication.

“The Vegas Lip Sync Competition is a competition in which our student body comes up and competes by lip-synching their favorite song,” said Shadezja Garrett, the University Board main stage coordinator.

Along with lip-synching the song of their choice, contestants were also able to add their own flare to the routines, making their performances one of a kind.

“Whether they add props or they mimic the actual live performance of the song, they just have to try and persuade the judges that they have what it takes to be the lip-synch competition champ,” she said.

Garrett, a senior journalism major, thought that the event would be a good one to have on Eastern’s campus.

“It was just an idea to do a lip-synch competition because it’s featured on television,” she said.

The Paramount Network (formerly known as Spike) show “Lip Sync Battle” has garnered in a diverse fan base ever since its debut in 2015. That same year, Garrett decided to hold the first lip-synch battle.

“A lot of people do it for fun and stuff, so we thought it would be pretty cool to bring it to campus to see what students would like to lip-synch their favorite song in front or an audience,” Garrett said.

She said the battle was a good way to release energy as well as have fun and pretend to be a “superstar.”

When Eastern first held this event, Garrett was only on the planning committee for the board, but she also got the chance to perform.

“I lip synced Alicia Keys’ ‘If I Ain’t Got You.’”

This was the first year where the competition was all male. “I think (the audience perceives) the male performers pretty well. They worked hard, and they are very excited, and I’m sure it’s going to be a good show.”

The competition was fierce as three different competitors captivated the room.

Donovan Gatling, Jamel Lawson, and Eli Weathers lip-synched their hearts out as the songs as “My Prerogative” by Bobby Brown, “Girls Ain’t Nothing But Trouble” by Will Smith, and a medley of The Notorious B.I.G’s “Juicy” played.

At the end of the performances, Gatling was crowned the winner due to his high-energy performance and his popularity with the audience.