
SAIS DC Hosts Annual SAISaPalooza
By EMILY WALZ
WASHINGTON — On Saturday, Feb. 28, SAIS D.C. students gathered in Kenney Auditorium to watch the annual SAISaPalooza Talent Show and Mr. & Ms. SAIS contest. Performances included a jazz dance piece by Alexa Tzu-An Lee, a Russian rap by Oleg Shakirov, and trio Flight of the SAISers.
The battle for the titles of Mr. and Ms. SAIS posed questions to the six contestants on pop culture, grammar, economic theory, and geography, querying the would-be crown-holders on their views of the Oxford/serial comma, which international trade theorem they would be (and why), asked them to identify Justin Bieber, and tried to settle the hotly contested social media debate around “what color is this dress?” Popularly chosen (by level of audience applause), this year’s winners are Oleg Shakirov, a second-year Strategic Studies student, and Sirtaj Kaur, a second-year International Law student.
The evening’s events also included an Oreo-cookie eating contest (congratulations to SGA president Chris Burger for his victory), and a well-received performance by SAIS’ rock band, the Grateful Fed, who covered hits like Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama,” the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Dani California,” and The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army.”
Photos by Zirra Banu.