I am all for a student run publication that evokes controversy and creates excitement. However, I full heartedly disagree with many of the comments that were made regarding the Status Quo performance in the previous article by Editor-in-Chief Robin Kim. As someone who as part of a small group booked and chose Status Quo, I feel I have an obligation to defend this situation and rebuke many of Robin’s claims. Therefore, I will go through this article and address many of the claims that I feel are unsubstantiated. (These quotes are taken directly from his commentary).

1. “Hiring an amateur youth hip-hop crew for the Student Council sponsored Winter Week opening event was a terrible decision.”

In no way, shape or form are Status Quo considered amateurs. They have a very experienced career and are managed by an entertainment company that represents many stars including 50 Cent, Akon and Alicia Keys. I believe you would be hard pressed to find anyone in the entertainment industry that would refer to a talent under such management as “amateur.”

Also, I would like to disagree that this was a “terrible decision.” I agree that some actions were inappropriate, but we always have opening performers that slip up and make mistakes. We are young ladies and men and we are fully able to deal with such mistakes. In no way, shape or form do I endorse this activity, yet I disagree with your conclusion that these actions ruined the performance. In fact, I have quoted students of all grades and strokes of life below and in general most students enjoyed this performance. So, I would definitely disagree that this was a bad decision.

2. “Professionals would have coordinated their show until the end, perhaps calling up one or two volunteers to excite the audience.”

This was Status Quo’s major flaw. They had a lack of preparation, but I disagree with your notion that a little bit of unpreparedness ruined the whole show and made it a “bad decision.”

3. “Next time, perhaps we need a more definitive oversight during major school events. We must think ahead and consider multiple effects of such prominent school-wide events before they actually happen.”

Once again, I disagree and to a certain extent take offense to this comment. As someone who played a big role in bringing Status Quo to perform at Wayland, I disagree that we were flawed in our planning. When you book a performer, you ask of them certain things. In this case, there was not a problem with oversight. You expect the performer to know what to do and be ready to perform in a way that is suitable to the performance. I believe that we did think ahead and we did what we could.

All in all, I feel that some portions of this performance happened to be inappropriate. However, I believe that many performers we have had and that we will have in the future incorporate themes and ideas that could be construed as inappropriate. Therefore, I disagree completely with Robin Kim’s commentary casting Status Quo’s performance as a failure. In fact, I would comment that many of the Wayland High School student population including myself, felt that for the most part it was very entertaining. There were definitely some mistakes and mishaps along the way, along with some inappropriate behavior, but for the most part I believe the performance was successful.

In the interest of good journalism, I sought out the opinion of Wayland High School students of all ages and walks of life. The following quotes have not been altered in any way:

Matt Whittaker- “it was better than the kickoff shows we’ve had in the past, and i enjoyed being there.”

David Schneider- “really creative, incredible stuff and they knew how to get the crowd involved.”

Ross Cunningham- “I think it was a nice change up from the traditional winter week. Adam Ezra is usually the only performer to come, and while i enjoy his music, it’s nice to see something different. I think they did a great job and definitely put a spin on what we’re used to.”

Naomi Rosenhaus- “I thought they were entertaining and impressive and lightened up the stressful school atmosphere.”

Lauren Jenny- “I thought it was very entertaining. Each dancer always had an incredible dance move up their sleeve.”

Bassma Sayeh- “Status quo was so incredible…I was really impressed with all of their moves and the ability to make everyone feel comfortable.”

David Westbom- “Status quo was the best opening winter week act yet and really did a good job of pumping up the crowd as well as many of the teachers.”

Jeremiah Malina- “I thought the performance was incredible. This was something WHS has never seen before, and even though the second half of the show was lackluster, you have to give it to Status Quo for giving a perfectly executed dance marathon. They’re only human and they get tired too.”

Allie Longfritz- “I thought they were very talented and quite entertaining and really reached out to and impressed the crowd.”

AJ Fitzgerald- “Great way to kick off winter week.”

Elliott Sulkis- “The hottest group to come through WHS.”

Mike Trueblood- “Status quo was a lot more exciting to watch then a lot of previous guest speakers that came and it’s good for winter week because kids will wanna have a good time then learn.”

Max Zizza- “Superb.”

Tess Kretowicz- “I thought they were good and I thought that most of the students liked it better than others. I feel like they should have just danced and not involved other people and it would have been better.”

Marina Mele- “I really enjoyed it. I thought they interacted with the crowd which made it more fun. And overall I thought they were really good.”

Leah Jacques- “I thought their performance was really entertaining (more so than the kick-off events in years past like the comedians), and it was a good way to start winter week. I don’t think they should have brought students up to dance though because it just went downhill from there… no one wants to see that, and if they do, that’s why we have dance 360. So I liked that dancing part, but after that it started to get awkward.”

Jozie Bazemore- “I thought it was a lot more interesting than past years because the comedian always had awkward jokes.”

Michela Luchetti- “I thought they were good, and it was cool to see them in person because they were really good on the TV show.”

Seth Harper- “I thought it was ultimately a more energizing experience for the high school and much more school spirit building; however, when people from the school came up that became slightly boring.”

Gabe Yanoff- ” I thought it was very cool… something really different from anything we have had in the past. It was kind of refreshing if that makes sense.”

Emily Nuss- “I thought it was very entertaining and fun to watch.”

Courtney Owens- “It was a really good treat and I enjoyed it a lot! But I think our audience was very bad…We were not loud enough.”

Chris D’Amico- “I thought it was pretty cool. It was different. I didn’t really think that it was that inappropriate like they said on that article for WSPN.”

Amy Kantor- “I thought that their dancing was great, they had lots of energy. But I thought some of their interactions with the students were inappropriate for the setting.”

Ethan Aaron- “It was an awesome show and a great way to start off Winter Week.”

Emily Andresen- “I thought it was really good and entertaining.”