“A lot people from the community came out and it was for a good cause,” he said after the show.

Besides the two winners, many other acts elicited tremendous waves of applause and cheering from the audience.

British pop star Tom P. Lowe ’05 performed Elton John’s “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” while wearing black-and-white floral-patterned pants.

“He’s kind of popular overseas,” joked Paretzky in her introduction of Lowe, whose boy band hit #7 on the U.K. charts with “Man Not a Boy.”

Members of the audience joined in the chorus of Erykah Badu’s song “Tyrone,” which Marissa A. Mike ’06 performed to a recorded accompaniment.

“Ca-all Tyrone,” they sang in unison. “Call him!”

Expressions Dance Company presented a routine performed to a medley of music from different eras, and the first-year dance troupe S.L.A.M. performed dressed with “Miss Sexy” printed on the backs of their pants.

The audience did not sustain its enthusiasm through each of the acts, though.

A performance by the “SoSo Sistas” was jeered from the stage after about 10 seconds of singing. Ehimare I. Akhabue ’03 left the stage after a confused combination of cheering and booing for his performance of Usher’s “U Don’t Have to Call.”

The evening’s hosts conducted “interviews” with members of the audience during the event. Paretzky asked a visiting parent in the audience whether her son would be performing.

“No, he has no talent,” she said. “That’s why he’s at Harvard––so he can get a day job.”

Following the event, the Black Man’s Forum hosted a party, open to all audience members, at Pforzheimer House.