MTV's Idalis visits UA with Citibank promo dance party

Arizona Daily Wildcat MTV video jockey Idalis Leon and KFMA announcer Spyder Rhodes welcome those attending the Citibank "Rock The Block Tour 1997" in the Memorial Student Union Arizona Ballroom Friday night.

With hopes of luring 1,000 students to the "Rock the Block Tour 1997" dance party, Citibank opened the doors of the Memorial Student Union Senior Ballroom at 7 p.m. to expose an MTV dance club atmosphere.

"I came all the way from Brooklyn to party with Tucson," said Idalis Leon, MTV video jockey and host of the event.

Tucson was the first stop on Idalis' tour of American college campuses to promote Citibank's college loan program.

When asked why she was hosting the party, Idalis jokingly replied, "Because they're paying me."

"Who better to host a party than a party girl like me?" she said.

About 220 people attended the event, but few students actually came to dance. Most of the students were more concerned with catching a glimpse of Idalis, and perhaps getting an autograph or photograph from the MTV star.

"It's dead," said Katherine Bangs, a business sophomore.

Bangs said she was hoping that MTV announcer Simon Rex would join Idalis at some point in the night. Rex is rumored to be Idalis' current love interest.

"I'm just upset that Idalis isn't single," said Brad Magick, a management information systems sophomore.

Overall, Magick said he was unimpressed with the dance party.

"It seemed like a big corporate hoax," he said.

Students were greeted at the door with a free T-shirt, pizza, drinks, a CD and the chance to win an Idalis autographed T-shirt.

With hopes of drawing a large student crowd, Citibank invited 92.1 KFMA announcer Spyder Rhodes to join the MTV star in hosting the party.

In addition to low attendance, the event also suffered a few minor technical problems. Around 8:30 p.m., the music volume was suddenly dropped.

"I think I cooked the amplifier," Rhodes said.

Rhodes said poor planning contributed to the low attendance.

"I think it was a good idea, it was just poorly executed, there was no promotion and there is a lack of good sound equipment," Rhodes said. "They promoted this thing as a 'rave.' I think it would have felt more like that if it had not been here (on campus )."

Harry Leeds, who helped Rhodes with the sound equipment, said location was the event's downfall.

"Students want to go someplace seedy for something like this. They want a place to escape," he said. "The ballroom of the Student Union is not a place to escape."

Magick added, "I think the whole school vibe thing turned people off."

Idalis, however, said she thought the event was successful.

"This is the first try, it is more of a trial run," Idalis said. "Maybe it would have been better at a different location and a little bit later (during the night)."

The next stop on Idalis' tour is the University of California at Los Angeles.