Laughter and excitement filled the Great Hall in the Memorial Union this weekend as Variety Show 2010: Living the Lyrics hosted its semi-finals.

Varieties second cuts were the first performances opened to the general public. The show featured many ISU students. The first cuts were closed to the public and served as a trial run to help decide which group would perform on which night.

The show was split up into two groups, with half the performances Friday and the other half competing Sunday. Each night held two showings of the performance.

This year many different talents, including singing, dancing from the Iowa State Swing Club and a saxophone group, were showcased.

The show was broken up into two categories. First there were greek variety skits, which were 20-minute mini-musicals that the students wrote, choreographed and performed themselves. The second group was the vignette groups, which consisted of soloists and smaller groups showing off their wide range of talents.

Addie Hillmer, freshman in animal ecology, watched Varieties for the first time.

“I absolutely loved it,” Hillmer said.

The crowds at the Sunday show seemed to agree with Hillmer, with many of the audience members laughing and applauding throughout the show.

The Great Hall was filled with parents, friends and people there just to support the various performers.

For Hillmer and her friends, the swing dancing vignette was their favorite part of the show.

“The swing dancing was amazing,” Hillmer said. “I wish I could just throw people in the air like that.”

Hillmer plans on going to finals as well, after seeing and liking semi-finals so much.

Winners were announced after the 5 p.m. show Sunday. The winners included Chaos in Candyland, Sibling Smackdown and Camp Ottowatta Be Here.

These winners will move on to finals in two weeks and compete for a chance to have a spot in next year’s Varieties, as well as bragging rights.

If you missed the excitement, finals will be held Feb. 19 and 20. Tickets are $8 for students and $10 for the general public, with a price increase of $1 the day of the show.

Tickets are general admission and will be available through the Maintenance Shop box office or by phone at 515-294-8349.