13-year-old Rebecca Black, who became an overnight sensation with her smash hit “Friday,” has been confirmed as the entertainment for this year’s Dandelion Day festivities. Courtesy of getcouponcodes.com
This Wednesday, March 30, UR Concerts announced the musician they booked for Dandelion Day Weekend: Internet superstar and musical genius Rebecca Black. Rebecca Black’s single “Friday” was released in February and went viral on March 11 — within a matter of weeks it has reached over 65 million views on Youtube. Critics have been enamored with Black’s talent — Rolling Stone said she “sounds unlike anything else in pop music” while Entertainment Weekly said “[There is] something sickeningly catchy about this tune that keeps you coming back for more.”
UR Concerts President and sophomore Thomas Mayer commented on the exciting D-Day announcement.
“I’ve been a Rebecca Black fan from day one — well, since like a week and a half ago I guess — and I’m proud to say that we got her for D-Day,” he said. “Unfortunately we couldn’t get ‘Friday’ co-writer Patrice Wilson, better known as ‘that random, creepy black dude who raps in the music video,’ but I’m sure we can just ask any guy from the street to fill in, and it’ll be just as good.”
It wasn’t easy obtaining Black for the spring festivities, however. UR had recently blown its entire yearly event budget earlier this semester in order to get LMFAO, in what was widely regarded as a “really dumb idea.” In addition, the $50,000 booking fee was more than UR is normally prepared to spend for an event on campus. However, there was a major and instrumental force in overcoming the numerous obstacles in the way — UR President Joel Seligman.
Seligman allowed UR Concerts to bend the rules slightly and dip into the next few years’ budgets, as well as his own personal funds, to finance the event. Seligman had this to say about why he was so intent on having Black come to the University for the D-Day celebration:
“I am just really in tune with what you young’uns like, and 69 million TooYoubers can’t be wrong can they? I definitely know what UR students want. Plus, I just really love the — I mean my daughter … I mean my wife — aw, fuck it. I’m not ashamed. I absolutely love ‘Friday.’ I listen to that shit on loop.”
Seligman’s personal donation of $10,000 in unmarked one-dollar bills, dropped off in trash bags at the Campus Activities Board (CAB) office in the middle of the night, was the final piece of the puzzle required to book Black. When asked about how he obtained so much money so quickly, he simply stated, “Don’t worry about it, I got stuff on the side. Just keep it on the DL. Word.”
Rebecca Black’s finalized set list hasn’t been announced yet, but her agent has hinted that there are some big things coming. As of right now, the tentative schedule has Black singing “Friday” over and over again for the entire hour and a half set. However, there are rumors that new songs are being written, such as “Tomorrow is Saturday” and “Sunday Comes Afterwards.”
The UR community is certainly excited about the news, despite the fact that UR Concert’s budget for the next four years has been used up.
“I know that getting Rebecca Black means that we’ll probably end up only being able to afford Creed or OK Go for the next four D-Days, but “Friday” is just so damn good it will absolutely, 100-percent be worth it,” sophomore Fred Yeong said.
Penney is a member of the class of 2012.
