New Year's fete in the Conference Center
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A New Year's Eve celebration in the Conference Center was filled with fun that kept thousands of cheering youth entertained for a wholesome, secure 3 1/2 hours.
The popular musical group Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband headlined the youth concert presented by the Utah Salt Lake City Area. An hour-and-a-half pre-show began at 7:30 p.m., with an audience dominated by teens — but including many younger and older, as well — swelling to about 10,000 by the time the concert began at 9 p.m. The show ended before 11 p.m., enabling the audience to move out into the rainy streets of Salt Lake City to watch the downtown fireworks as they welcomed in the new year.
Elder Jeffrey C. Swinton, Area Seventy, said, "Our desire was to create a safe environment for youth where they can mingle with and be entertained by those who share their values."
Mission accomplished.
Though members of the audience were enthusiastically and joyfully obedient to the first rule of the program which was, "Have fun," including group participation in singing, and occasional dancing in the aisles, they kept their behavior appropriate to the venue and their own standards.
Ryan Shupe's group was joined on the stage by a steady stream of crowd-pleasing acts including "American Idol" finalist Carmen Rasmusen, singer/songwriter Peter Breinholt, and the opening act Vocal Point, a men's a cappella ensemble. In keeping with the 2005 theme of remembering Joseph Smith on the 200th anniversary of his birth, Jason Deere and Dan Truman, a keyboard player for the country group Diamond Rio, presented their musical creation "Joseph: A Nashville Tribute."
There was something for everyone. Megan Skidmore, a new Beehive fresh out of Primary in the Syracuse 3rd Ward, Syracuse Utah South Stake, tagged Vocal Point as her favorite part of the program because of their delightful medley of popular Primary songs.
Dee Anderson of Cedar City, Utah, who is anticipating a mission call in the near future, particularly liked Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband's popular song "Dream Big." As New Year's Eve celebrations went, "This is probably one of my best ever," Dee said after he and Ann Adams neared the end of a date that also included viewing the movie "Joseph Smith The Prophet of the Restoration" in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and a Utah Jazz basketball game.
The pre-show was a bonus for those who arrived early. Local TV personality Kent Norton emceed a program that included a Samoan dance group and another Polynesian group performing a Maori "Haka" dance.
An ongoing skit involving organist Larry Blackburn enabled him to show off the massive Conference Center organ and its colorfully lit pipes with a medley including music from the Indiana Jones' "Raiders of the Lost Ark" movie, and the theme from the television sitcom "The Addams Family." Brother Blackburn also accompanied a mostly silent video/live-action parody "The Phantom of the Opera." It featured the talents of Kelly DeHaan, a choral conductor and member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and Murray High School student Angela Garrett, who was remarkable singing the highest notes required of the Christine character.
E-mail to: ghill@desnews.com
