About 1,200 people gathered in Warriner Hall’s Plachta Auditorium to watch Tucker’s stand-up show.

Tucker danced onto the stage, accompanied by fog and flashing lights. He was applauded as he flaunted his Central Michigan University sweatshirt.

“I am in the middle of nowhere-land here (in Mount Pleasant),” Tucker said. “I was like, ‘Where the hell am I?’ I thought I was going to prison.”

The audience laughed at Tucker’s mocking description of Mount Pleasant. He also cracked jokes about CMU’s football loss against Eastern Michigan University, targeting the football players among the crowd.

Farmington Hills freshman Shafer Johnson said the show was everything he expected it to be.

“(The show) was really funny, especially when he started mocking (people) in the audience,” Johnson said. “London Brown was also really funny.”

Brown was the second opening act to Tucker’s show. He was discovered by Tucker and has been on tour with him since May.

Brown’s show involved dramatic body movement and he used the microphone in his jokes and dance moves. The audience laughed at his ballet-type performance as he described an airplane flight.

Comedian Terry Hodges was the other opening act. He emphasized the need for people to enjoy life.

“You just have to have some fun,” Hodges said. “But stay away from drugs and alcohol.”

Tucker joked about his recent troubles with the IRS and encouraged audience members to save their money. He also mentioned his recent speeding ticket and called police childish for waiting around for speeding cars.

As part of his ending act, Tucker did an impression of Michael Jackson, complete with singing a portion of Jackson’s “Why.”

Paul Barlow said he enjoyed hearing Tucker talk about Michael Jackson. The Mount Pleasant senior said he found it to be a well-rounded show.

“It’s more than just a show,” Barlow said. “Chris always has some advice within his shows. It’s always good to hear him.”

Hawk performed for an audience of about 25 people 7 p.m. Saturday in the Bovee University Center Auditorium as part of Black History Month.

“God made me that way,” he said. “I never wanted to be anything else even as a kid. I have been singing for 12 years.”

Hawk’s repertoire included cover ballads from artists such as Michael Jackson, Gnarls Barkley, Motown and the Jackson 5, as well as his own original songs.

In the first half of the show, Hawk performed popular songs such as “Grenade” by Bruno Mars and “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley.

Marceil Davis, assistant academic adviser for Gear-Up, said he did not expect Hawk to perform all the cover ballads he did during the performance.

“I think it was really good,” the Flint resident said. “I didn’t know how (he) was going to do all these covers, but it was good for everyone to be involved.”

The second half of the show featured Michael Jackson’s “Rock With You” and “The Way You Make Me Feel.”

Kenyan first-year graduate student Allan Busaka did his research on Hawk prior to his performance.

“I thought it was amazing,” Busaka said. “I checked him out on YouTube prior to his performance where it was more on covers.”

Detroit sophomore Johnny Jones also knew Hawk prior to the show.

“It was awesome and I enjoyed myself,” Jones said. “I knew him prior to the performance so I knew what he could do. I wanted to see him live.”

Steve Lewis, president of Program Board, which sponsored the event, said the performance was “really good” because Hawk has a nice voice.

“I saw him at a conference a couple months ago and he didn’t disappoint then either,” the Allegan senior said.

Hawk ended his performance by telling the crowd to remember that God makes people beautiful in their own way and ended with his own original song — “Beautiful”.

Some students wanted Hawk to perform more of his original songs rather than cover songs.

“I believe that originality is the best,” Busaka said. “He needs to focus more on his own stuff. When I checked him out on YouTube, it would have been nice if he posted more of his stuff.”

Hawk enjoyed performing for the audience because of their involvement by participating and singing along with some of the songs.

“Anytime the students are able to connect and laugh along,” he said, “it will always be a great show.”

“We are hoping to break the pending record,” said Carly Mills, Central Michigan Life public relations intern and Orleans senior. “We hope that the Guinness Book of World Records will approve our record.”

The current collegiate record for the dance is 242 people performing the dance at one time. The dance will take place at 7 p.m. today in the Indoor Athletic Complex.

Thrill CMU is sponsored by Central Michigan Life, Moore Hall Television and Modern Rock 91.5.

Jeffrey Sell, a Clinton Township junior and a member of 91.5, said sponsoring the event will let students on campus hear and learn about the programs sponsoring the events.

“Thrill CMU is an interesting way for students to learn about different things at the school,” he said. “They get to try and break a record, which is cool.”

Get thrilling

Students need only their campus ID to participate. There will be food, prizes and contests for the largest hall attendance, largest fraternity or sorority attendance.

“I know a lot of students are pretty excited,” Mills said. “There have been decent turnouts for rehearsals. I’ve heard people are excited honoring Michael Jackson.”

There is a video link available at cm-life.com for students to learn the dance. Participants only have to dance for five minutes for the record to be made.

“I think this is something we could possibly break the record.” Mills said. This is a way to encourage other universities to try and break records as well. If people become interested in this event, they might want to attempt to break world records.”

Some students have shown interest in the event.

“I think this is a good way to portray Michael Jackson in a positive light,” said Midland freshman William Cynecki. “He has done a lot for pop culture and music today. It’s a good way for students to honor him.”

“Thrill CMU” is aiming to set the record to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” dance Nov. 13 on the Indoor Athletic Complex track bay. The event is sponsored by Central Michigan Life, Modern Rock 91.5 and Moore Hall Television.

“We wanted to put this event on because we thought it would be a great way to bring students together and bring unity to Central,” said Carly Mills, Orleans senior and Central Michigan Life advertising representative. “It’s also in honor of music legend Michael Jackson. It’s a great way to honor what he’s done.”

Students can register for the event at the practices at 8 p.m. today, Nov. 9 at Finch Fieldhouse or at the door for the actual event Nov. 13. Mills said she is hoping for at least 500 students to participate.

Mills thinks the event will be very distinct.

“There is not (a record) for the largest college Thriller dance, and that’s why we thought we’d have a good shot, just because we would probably be one of the first,” she said. “We went with the college record so that it would be more unique and stand out a little more.”

Mills said students from all over the state can participate as long as they have college identification.

“It’s not just for Central students,” she said. “I encourage all students to attend because it would be a lot of fun and a great way to honor one of our top icons.”

Assistant Director of Student Publications Kathy Simon said there are many ways for students to get involved.

“They don’t have to go to the practice sessions,” Simon said. “They can get involved by going to our Web site and finding the instructions for the dance. They can create their own practice sessions within their groups or organizations or residence halls to practice for the dance. Or they can just show up the night of the event and dance.”

The event will feature prizes for the best Michael Jackson impersonator, largest registered student organization participation, largest sorority/fraternity participation and largest residence hall participation.

“Everyone, please die,” said Livonia junior Ryan O’Neill. “We’re about to thrill the world.”

At 8:30 p.m., the city was a part of Thrill the World, an annual worldwide simultaneous “Thriller” dance, along with nations such as Australia, Saudi Arabia and Wales, according to thrilltheworld.com.

“We are a small part of something huge,” said O’Neill, event manager of Mount Pleasant’s Thrill the World dance.

Out of the 10 nations and thousands of participants, 34 from Mount Pleasant were a part of something bigger than they had expected.

Wyandotte sophomore Nicole Schmidt was proud that a small city such as Mount Pleasant was involved in a huge event.

“I think it’s really cool because it’s the year that Michael Jackson died and it’s a way to honor him,” she said.

Schmidt’s sister, Mallorie Schmidt, drove from Wyandotte to Mount Pleasant to join the rest of the participants.

“She’s a huge Michael Jackson fan,” Nicole Schmidt said.

Zombie land

As the group took its position on the ground of Lot 18, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” began to play, and the zombies “rose from the dead.”

Harrison senior Nathan Heath attended the event to see his friends’ dedication pay off.

“They’ve put in countless hours in this, and the dedication is just amazing,” Heath said. “This is the best I’ve seen them so far.”

A few of the participating zombies lived on Heath’s floor in Woldt Hall.

“I’ve watched them practice in their room and, basically, they’ve got it down,” he said.

O’Neill taught himself the entire dance within an hour over the summer. He searched “Thriller” online, found thrilltheworld.com and became an event manager. He began to set up the event in Mount Pleasant, holding rehearsals since September.

According to the Web site, last year, Thrill the World set a world record with the Record Holders Republic with 4,179 people from 10 nations simultaneously performing the “Thriller” dance.

O’Neill was happy, relieved, ecstatic and thrilled the event turned out well.

“It was a lot of hard work, and we had tons of fun out there,” he said.

On Tuesday night, about 40 students filled the tennis courts between Calkins and Trout halls, learning the famous ’80s dance tune.

“The most important thing to remember is that you guys are zombies,” Livonia junior Ryan O’Neill, who organized the event, told the dancers. “You must look like zombies.”

They hope to shock the world at 8:30 p.m. Oct. 24 by breaking the world record for the largest simultaneous thriller dance in history.

The Mount Pleasant location where participants will be dancing is not yet decided, O’Neill said.

CMU students are not the only ones involved with “Thrill the World.” The event is worldwide that has been ongoing since 2007.

The idea came after 62 “zombies” in Canada set the Guinness World Record for the largest version of the dance.

Since then, thousands of people from all different countries have participated in the event.

“We are a small part of something huge,” O’Neill said.

He said anyone can learn the Thriller dance in about two hours, although memorizing it is a different story.

He just learned the dance earlier this summer.

O’Neill and his dancers will meet at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday nights at the tennis courts between Calkins and Trout halls until Oct. 24 to practice the dance.

Saginaw senior Rachel Singer practices the Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” dance Tuesday night. (Neil Blake/Staff Photographer)

Many student dancers were laughing in excitement when O’Neill first demonstrated the dance for them.

“There’s a body roll in the dance that looks fun,” said Grand Rapids sophomore Janet Price, who danced along. “I wanted to learn this ever since I saw the video. It’s the highlight of my week.”

Croswell sophomore Sarah Sly said she has been trying to learn the dance for a long time and this is the perfect opportunity to learn it.

“Right now, I don’t know anything, this might take a while,” she said.

Durand sophomore Brett Warner and a few of his friends were among several students who watched the dancers from the side of the tennis courts.

He said the Thriller dance is the best dance a person can learn.

“The director seems like he has his stuff together,” Warner said. “I’m confident they’ll do good.”