Called ‘Wittgate’ by some, the scandal about who would replace the artist B.o.B has caused some anxiety over how Wittfest will go this year. Students have been carrying their outrage to social media, starting ‘#boycottWittfest’ in a response to the administration’s repeal of the previous headliner. While some students are turning away from the event, others waited curiously to see who would replace the previous artist. The rumors about Far East Movement being Wittenberg’s new headliner had been swimming around long before they were officially announced, and while it was a long time coming, many are excited to see what this group will bring to the stage.
Far East Movement is an Asian-American electric pop-rap group that formed in 2003 and made a name for themselves when they became the first Asian-American group to hit the Billboard Top 100 in 2010 with “Like a G6.”
“I know a song by them,” Bailey McPail, a freshman, agreed.
Many other students are in the same position, knowing only a few of the group’s songs, but looking forward to the performance nonetheless.
“It’s pretty much the same as B.o.B,” junior Claudia Scully said. “They’re from the same year and they have the same values, but they don’t have questionable life views.”
“They are people who we want to be here at our school representing us; people that we can align our values with,” sophmore Samantha Reynolds added.
The amount of time it took for the new group to be released was a little problematic to some students. Of course, the school had to scramble to find a new group last minute, so the whole thing was awkward. But as a result, the rest of the school was left waiting in slightly exasperated anticipation.
Reynolds got a wristband for Wittfest even though she didn’t know who the headliner was going to be.
“I thought, I don’t know if I’m going to go because I don’t know if I’m going to care,” Reynolds said.
Now that students do know, many are excited for the performance, but the rushed air of everything was discouraging.
Despite that, most are certain Wittfest will still be a blast.
“It’s gonna be fun for a big like jumping up and down kind of party,” McPhail said optimistically. “It’ll be a nice throwback to when I was in middle school.”
“It’s what you make of it.” McGorray agreed.
As long as you’re with a good group of people who make the event enjoyable, it doesn’t matter if you know one song or ten; you’ll have a great time at Wittfest 2018.
