A popular boy band group in the early 70s, became a girl group at The Woodlands High School at their annual Popshow. This event, usually centered around a theme, features pop like songs and dance moves from each choir. With rehearsals starting in April, they have only a few weeks to choreograph, rehearse, and learn class numbers. Some individuals also participate in individual, duo, or group performances, in which they must audition for a slot.
That’s exactly what Jackson 5 did.
Consisting of 5 members originally (Nubia Cruz, DeAnna Lewis, Connie Ramirez, Sophia Conlon and Avery Erskine), a cabinet fell on Lewis’ foot and she was unable to dance. The group went down to 4, with a surprise fifth member at the end.
Originally, the group believed that the theme would be Holidays, with Ramirez coming up with the song “I Want You Back” for the group to sing (a nod to Valentines Day). When the group found out the theme would be FInal Countdown, the song was kept, but new ideas were formed.
“I came up with the idea of a flash performance surprise and we used Esteban as Michael Jackson,” Conlon said.
When asked what the surprise was, Conlon detailed her plans for the concert.
“The surprise was that mid song the music stopped,” Conlon said. “I put in the track a sound of a record scratching, and then “Bad” started playing, and Esteban moon walked across the stage.”
With the record scratching and music switch up, it was important that the girls kept the plans under wraps.
“It was really suspenseful, because we really wanted to tell our friends what was going to happen during the show but we couldn’t,” Conlon said. “A few of our friends knew what was going to happen, so they cheered really loud when the surprise happened.”
A fun moment, many of the audience members were heard loudly yelling ‘keep going!’ when the music stopped.
“We were extremely happy with the results, ” Conlon said. “After the performance, we all collectively agreed that it was amazing and that we all did an amazing job – especially after convincing the audience that something went wrong.”
This is the second time the group performed together, with some of the girls singing “Wannabe” from the Spice Girls just last year.
For some of them, this marks a sad moment, as many plan to leave choir.
Starting as early as 7th grade, many have been doing Popshow for years. With this being some of the Jackson 5’s last, it meant a lot that they got it right.
“This is my fourth year, and I hope to have a streak of six years,” Conlon said.
