2014 THON - Bobby Family Kids Variety Performance - Daily Collegian
(From left) Alexis Bobby, 13, Ian Brodsky, AJ Bobby, 10, and Annabelle Bobby, 13, pose with the green tractor prop used in their Kid's Variety Show performance - THON 2014 - Feb. 22, 2014
Variety show brings motivation to dancers, brings fun for families
With the Bryce Jordan Center nearing capacity Saturday night, children took the stage to perform in the Kid's Variety Show.
Four Diamonds Fund children of all ages performed everything from One Direction songs to comedy routines to get the crowd going.
One group performed a THON-themed "Cup Song," with help from the Nittany Lion. Another, 6-year-old Andrew Woods, pumped up the crowd with his rendition of Chris Brown's "Yeah 3x."
One Four Diamonds family got up and sang "Big Green Tractor" by Jason Aldean with their organization, Theta Chi fraternity.
The three kids, AJ, 10, Annabelle and Alexis Bobby, 13, sang and danced to the country song with costumes of cowboy hats and props of a cardboard tractor.
Alexis, who gets stage fright, said she still performed because her brother made her. Regardless of being nervous, she said she still had fun.
"I did like being on the guy's shoulders," Alexis said.
She said her favorite part of THON is knowing that some day there will be a cure for cancer.
Alexis also said she and her sister are performing in their school's mini-THON, and currently have raised the most money.
AJ said his favorite part of being on stage was singing and dancing with his friends, while Annabelle said she most enjoyed "embarrassing" their fraternity brothers on stage.
Amanda, the kids' mom, said this THON was special for her because it is the first THON weekend in four that AJ isn't getting chemo treatment.
"[I love] seeing the smiles on my kids faces," she said.
This year, Amanda said she is just happy to see AJ really feeling better and more able to have fun and participate than in previous years.
For dancers, the Kid's Variety Show brought laughs, motivation and a reminder about what the weekend is about.
Alix Ressle, a dancer for Penn State Lehigh Valley, said he liked the the comedy act because while the jokes were geared towards kids, everyone in tje BJC was laughing and getting into them.
The variety show is a great way to show why everyone is here, Ressle (sophomore-mechanical engineering) said.
"I think [the kids] are amazing, especially the way everyone reacts, too,"he said. "They're top notch."