KEVIN B. KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat Elementary education freshman Amanda Mee performs Britney Spears' "Slave" last night at UA Idol in the Cellar restaurant in the student union. The event was sponsored by SPRITE, Students Promoting Respect and Individuality Through Education to raise money for the upcoming Day of Silence.

UA Idol rocked the Cellar last night with karaoke with a twist: bringing in a 50-person crowd and donations for the Day of Silence.

Alex Grubb, president of Students Promoting Respect and Individuality Through Education, said he did not set a goal for how much money the group hoped to make last night.

"We would be happy to make $100 tonight," Grubb said. "Anything to help us pay for T-shirts for the Day of Silence."

Grubb said the group made more than $130 toward their fundraising effort.

The night started off slow with many shy students in the audience, but a person could pay $3 to have a friend sing.

Brandon Toussaint, an undeclared freshman, paid $3 to have one of his friends sing "It's Raining Men" by the Weather Girls.

"He didn't know the lyrics, and I thought it would be really funny to watch ... and it was," Toussaint said. "But in good spirit I paid $2 to sing a song I know I'm going to butcher."

As the night went on, more audience members got involved with the karaoke and clapped to the music while others sang.

"I can't sing, but I am here because I want to hear others sing," said Eli Benavidez, a media and theatre arts sophomore. "That's the fun part."

Audience members could also pay $1 to remove a vocally-challenged singer from the stage.

"I am not singing because I don't have money to pay to make myself stop," said Catherine O'Connol, an undeclared freshman.

Butch "Nathan" Peterson, an anthropology senior, paid $3 to have some women he did not know sing for the audience.

"Three very pretty ladies were sitting over there, and I thought they should join in the fun," Peterson said. "I didn't know them before - they were just sitting there eating."

The night was full of energy, and more students joined the fun as the night went on.

"I am having a lot of fun embarrassing myself," said Sabre Sarnataro, a SPRITE member and the organizer of this karaoke event.

"I organized this event so I am trying to boost morale by embarrassing myself. I'm just trying to get people excited," said Sarnataro, a media arts senior.

Grubb said he is planning to ask Pride Alliance for whatever money the group still needs after last night's fundraiser. The money will go toward T-shirts for the upcoming Day of Silence.

The Day of Silence was founded in 1996 at the University of Virginia. This student-led actionhas since been adopted by more than 1,900 middle schools, high schools and colleges nationwide.