Iowa State University celebrated the semifinals of its 86^th annual Varieties show Friday and Saturday night.

What was once a non-greek show has now turned into an Iowa State greek life tradition, with more than 20 sororities and fraternities participating this year. Varieties performances include acting, singing, dancing and choreography to create a unique 16- to 22-minute musical.

The first steps of the show started nearly six months ago when the theme “Relive the Legends” was suggested and agreed upon. Participating groups had to first write a script and get it patented by the Varieties committee. This process makes sure that no two performances have the same show.

“The parings have been working since October,” Jessica Self, director of Varieties, said. “It’s a very intense process and very long but it’s well worth it when you watch the show.”

After the script is approved, the pairings spend the next six months practicing their performances. 

Varieties, like all competitions, has rules. The co-chairs of each pairing must attend all of the co-chair and tech meetings. 

During the show, members of greek life are not allowed to flaunt their letters. They have to essentially become disaffiliated with their chapter because Varieties is an Iowa State tradition, no matter how much the greek community may dominate the show.

Because they are disaffiliated with their chapters, each pairing is labeled a letter from A to G.

Points will be deducted from teams if they are late to rehearsal and if they leave anything on stage or in their rooms. In a competition this fierce, precious points lost through silly mistakes is the silent killer. 

Over the years, the Varieties committee has tried to make an outreach to non-greek life in an effort to get them involved. The pairings usually consist of two sororities and two or three fraternities, but non-greek students are encouraged to join.

“Part of the rule book is having non-greeks involved so there’s a lot of community outreach on that,” Kate Holtkamp, dramatics coordinator, said. “Hopefully it gets bigger in the coming years because it used to just be non-greek people who did it.”

Holtkamp continued to talk about keeping Iowa State traditions alive, especially since Varieties is celebrating its 86^th birthday. 

The shows consists of four different showings split up over two nights for the semi-finals and one show a night for finals. There are two shows a night with an intermission for the judges to take a break.

Each pairing performed once a night, so if one was in the first show Friday night, it would be in the second show Saturday night. The combined scores of each night, which consist of the performances and any deductions, determine who will make it into the finals.

Holtkamp was satisfied with the performances this year, expressing how clever and well put together they were.

“This year’s theme is Relive the Legends,” Holtkamp said. “We’ve gone from sports legends to music legends; all of them are really creative.”

Each team has had its chance to show the judges what they were made of, and groups D, E, F and G will be moving onto the finals. Finals will take place at 7 p.m. Feb. 24 and 25 in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union.