WDOM’s Karaoke Event Provides a Night of Entertainment

by The Cowl Editor on November 18, 2021

Arts & Entertainment

WDOM’s Karaoke Event Provides a Night of Entertainment

Laughter Abounds as PC Students Show Off Their Musical Talents

Jack Downey ’23

On Saturday, Nov. 6, WDOM hosted a karaoke night in the legendary McPhail’s student entertainment center at Providence College. Considering there were several events going on that night, particularly the men’s hockey game against University of Massachusetts Amherst, karaoke night was projected to be small but lively. However, by the end of the night, McPhail’s was packed. Originally, the event was only supposed to go from 7-9 p.m., but due to the constant stream of people entering McPhail’s to either watch or participate, it went later, a development that nobody seemed to mind.

Starting off the night were Caitlyn Mitchell ’24 and Anna Carlson ’24, who performed “Valerie” by Amy Winehouse. The song was a crowd-pleaser and helped set the tone for the night. Following this was Alex Sateriale ’24, who shocked everyone in attendance by rapping along to Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.” Sateriale was remarkably on point throughout, and his performance earned a very warm reception.

As the night progressed, the acts continued to entertain. Colin Prancl ’24 and Jack Wright ’24 belted out “Drops Of Jupiter” by Train, which had many in the audience laughing. Father Justin Bolger went up and sang along to “Takin’ Care Of Business” by Bachman Turner Overdrive, which garnered a particularly appreciative response from those in Peer Ministry. Another act that hyped up the crowd was Jason Sgroi ’24, who took the stage to perform “Whatcha Say” by Jason Derulo.

Something of note was the number of Taylor Swift songs performed at the karaoke night. Perhaps inspired by the hype for the then-upcoming release of Red (Taylor’s Version), or simply a result of PC students’ love for all things Swift, there were approximately five songs from her discography performed throughout the night. These performances were less about entertainment and more about the emotion and nostalgia that the songs held. Each rendition earned a positive reaction from the crowd.

However, the performance that arguably had the most people talking was by Brendan Downey, a high school student and prospective Friar. He sang “99 Luftballons” by German band Nena. The twist was that he chose to work with the original German version, not the English translation. Surprisingly, his German was quite good, as was his ability to hype up the crowd. His dance moves, which only added to the comical absurdity of the situation, had people in hysterics. Downey would go up twice more throughout the night, once to sing “Blue (Da Be Dee)” by Eiffel 65 with yours truly, then once to perform “Steady As She Goes” by The Raconteurs with myself, Mitchell, and Adri Migliore ’24.

As the night drew to a close, the members of the WDOM executive board who were present went up and performed the forever classic “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey. It was a touching moment even if it was also somewhat funny; there were only three mics available, meaning several people simply had to shout the lyrics over the prerecorded track. The true finale, however, was “Closing Time” by Semisonic, performed by Ryan Peduto ’25. During this song, people hopped onto the stage and sang along, joined arm in arm. And, with that, WDOM’s karaoke night concluded.

The reaction to the event was so positive that people were demanding a second night, so be sure to follow WDOM on Instagram and keep an eye out for another karaoke night next semester.