For the first time in Step Sing history, two performances tied for Overall First Place. Alpha Tau Omega and the music department were the overall winners of Step Sing 2017.

This year’s overall theme was “Famous Rivals” which included an array of group themes such as “The Cola Wars” and “Fire and Ice.”

The teams competed in women’s, men’s and coeducational categories.

Junior Chip Bailey of the music department said his group had not performed in Step Sing in many years.

“After the music department didn’t participate for seven or eight years, winning was a pleasant surprise,” Bailey said.

Alpha Gamma Delta won first place in the women’s category with the theme of Good versus Evil. Zeta Tau Alpha finished second with a Coke versus Pepsi performance.

Freshmen Claire Hampton, soloist for Alpha Gamma Delta, said the win felt “so good” because they worked hard on the performance.

“We practiced every single night of January for at least two or three hours,” Hampton said. “We came out here to have fun, and winning was just a plus.”

The crowd chose Alpha Gamma Delta for the People’s Choice Award.

Alpha Tau Omega left Norton Auditorium as men’s first place winners. The men performed a “Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Taus” number.

The performance included stage punches and calorie-burning cardio that amplified the crowd’s volume.

“It feels great to win,” said sophomore Matthew Balch. “We put so much hard work into the show.”

Not only did the audience applaud the singing and dancing students onstage, but the people also donated money to a local organization.

All proceeds from Feb. 3-4 went to United Way of Northwest Alabama.

United Way works to solve community-based issues and to address health and human services.

At the entryway to Norton Auditorium, students were encouraged to fill jars with money representing each group that participated in Step Sing.

Zeta Tau Alpha collected the most money for United Way, and a total of $1,024.18 for the UNA Food Pantry.

Editor’s Note: Stick with The Flor-Ala for an update on the total amount Step Sing raised for United Way.