Annenberg Crashers Fall Flat

It's a typical Thursday night dinner at Annenberg, a quiet night to end the week, complete with mediocre food and...upperclassmen crashers? Oh wait, it's just Eleganza, yet another student group shamelessly infiltrating the sacred space in order to promote an upcoming event. But what was likely intended to be a groundbreaking-ly exciting antic fell flat in front of the disinterested freshmen. After waiting 11 minutes past their intended go-time of 6 PM in anticipation of more viewers, the Eleganzans lost their surprise factor and were hardly a sensational sweep. Read more about their attempted takeover after the jump.

The organization members, after gathering near the John Adams statue awaiting their cue, began an anti-climactic walk down the aisles of Annenberg while one member blared--well, more like played softly--music from his ipod speakers. After every individual busted out his or her runway walk towards the center of the room, the group came together to show off their dancing skills to the crowd. Oh, did we mention that you should come to Eleganza?

The inspiration, according to apparent master-and-commander of this stunt Angela Su '12, was the scene from a Gossip Girl episode where Little J decides that a charity gala would be a prime opportunity for an impromptu fashion show. Actually, it wasn't really the inspiration, but that's the effect the organizers were trying to go for. Apparently...there's a difference somewhere.

Except this spontaneous fashion show happened to be missing, well, the fashion (not to mention it wasn't actually spontaneous). The Eleganza devotees wore only green t-shirts with "Jack Willis" (who?) on the front, and "Eleganza" predictably splayed across the back. If that's groundbreaking couture, FlyBy fears for the upcoming season's fashion trends.

The organizers insisted the promotion was a success, and Su herself said, "The crowd loved it, and we really showed some Eleganza spirit." Another participant's attempts to acknowledge the lack of volume from the music were quickly overridden.

A group of female freshmen diners labeled the display as "unnecessary" and "not really that big of a surprise." Considering how many emails about Eleganza this writer has received in the past week (8 emails and 3 facebook messages, according to a Gmail search), this attitude is not surprising. Maybe their strategy should be rethought. When asked about whether they would be going to Eleganza on Saturday these same freshmen said, "Probably not."

Photo by Paul M. Soper/The Crimson