A cappella traditions collide

An East meets West cultural extravaganza came to Irvine Auditorium on Friday night. Hindi a cappella group Penn Masala performed with jazz a cappella group Counterparts for a one-night-only performance dubbed Curry and All That Jazz. The show marked the first time a minority a cappella group has performed with an English singing group in Penn's history. Though Counterparts and Penn Masala have appeared at each other's shows in the past, this was the first time they held a formal joint show. "We guest performed for [Counterparts] last year," said Penn Masala singer Abhi Patwardhan, a Wharton senior. "They're an awesome group." More than 1,000 students were in attendance. Audience members said they enjoyed the contrast between the two distinguished singing groups. "I'm very delighted by it," Engineering junior Kevin Chan said. "It's a good mix. Penn Masala is very entertaining and funny, and Counterparts is an excellent group." The performance opened with a spoof of Michael Jackson's Beat It, in which the two groups duked it out on stage to an applauding audience. Counterparts, decked out in tuxedos and black dresses, performed from its vast repertoire of jazz and pop classics, while Penn Masala, garbed in colorful punjabees, sang popular Hollywood hits and English pop songs. Both groups mixed a good dose of humor with their musical talent. Penn Masala provided comic translations of some of their songs and poked fun at South Asian stereotypes with their song Show Me The Meaning of Being Desi, a parody of the popular Backstreet Boys song. This was also the last big performance on campus for each of the groups this year, and they took the opportunity to honor their outgoing seniors and their alumni, who came on stage to sing a few songs with them. The two groups came together for the show's grand finale, in which they performed popular Hindi song Tu Cheez Badi Hai.

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