Arriving to school at 4 a.m. in formal attire would make most high schoolers groan, but to senior Ian Johnston, the morning is the least stressful thing about a spotlight day.

FHS competitive choirs hosts their own show choir competition on Jan. 26, called Silver Spotlight, to kick off their season. Students, like dance captain Johnston, have individual responsibilities while hosting to make sure the day runs smoothly.

“We make posters and we decorate the rooms for the choirs that are visiting,” Johnston said. “We also have to prepare our own show because we do an exhibition for Sound and Electrum.”

Upperclassmen students from Electrum and Sound will escort each of the 11 visiting schools throughout the day to make sure everyone makes it to the stage efficiently.

“This year we’re also hosting a few middle schools,” Johnston said. “We’ve always hosted middle school but in the past only one has attended so it’s the first year they’ll have competition.”

Electrum and Sound rehearse for hours on end to get ready for their performances at the competition. Along with practicing during their class time, they have after school rehearsals, even a few over winter break, making sure the show is ready for its debut.

For both choirs, rehearsals are managed by section leaders/vocal assistants and dance captains/assistants. Seniors are given the higher leadership positions while underclassmen are the assistants, such as dance assistant sophomore Simon Mayer.

“As an assistant I help people learn and clean their choreography,” Mayer said. “Zach Clar and I lead small groups in short cleaning sessions.and give feedback.”

Once the competition is over, the performers stay after to clean up the school and can be there as late as 1 a.m., making their day close to 24 hours long.

“We have a really difficult set this year,” said Johnston. “The hardest part for me is a dance feature I do because it’s not finalized yet which is how a lot of the set can be. But everything works itself out and gets easier as we get into season.”