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.