If you’re missing campus and looking for a way to connect with other ducks, there is a new opportunity for you to get involved. The first episode of the Ducks Variety Show, a weekly YouTube show that features the talents of UO students, premiered on Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. The show is a part of a new student engagement program sponsored by the EMU to connect UO students with campus while classes are conducted remotely.
Fairchild, the special events coordinator of major student events, conceived the idea after the EMU asked him to come up with virtual student engagement programming.
“We were really looking for a way to engage with our students during winter term virtually where there were options to participate or just to watch,” he said.
Though he is heavily involved with production at the moment, Fairchild says that the goal is to develop this program into something that is almost entirely student-run.
Lantha Clarke, a senior majoring in psychology and public relations, is the host of the “ten-second talents” segment. Though she doesn’t have previous experience in entertainment, her natural charisma came through when she shared her own ten-second talent: her ability to touch her nose with her tongue.
Clarke says that one of her favorite parts about working on the show is being exposed to people’s wide range of skills.
“When I think of talent, I think of the basics like dancing and singing,” Clarke said. “So to see talents beyond that and to see how extraordinary people are is amazing.”
Each episode is hosted by a group of undergraduate students with Fairchild and will feature four segments based on student submissions with the opportunity to earn Duck Store gift cards. “Tell Me Something Good” encourages students to submit uplifting stories that happened to them or someone else in the last week. “Ten-second talents” features submitted clips of students performing fun and strange tasks in ten seconds or less.
Toward the end of the show there is a weekly trivia challenge in which the first person to submit all ten correct answers online will receive a $50 gift card to the Duck Store. Finally, there is the Duck challenge in which the beloved UO mascot challenges students to perform a new activity every week. The Duck will award another $50 Duck Store gift card to the winner.
In addition to these segments, each episode includes a 30-minute pre-recorded performance showcasing a range of professional performing artists. Last week’s entertainment included fire dancers, acrobats and aerialists demonstrating their mastery in unique areas. The standout performers were a pair of acrobats who climbed atop one another, performing gravity-defying stunts while wielding a fire staff burning on both sides.
Fairchild said that late-night talk shows were a big inspiration when creating the show and that they are not aiming to be a source of news.
“We didn’t want to talk about all the bad things happening in the world right now,” Fairchild said. “We really wanted to focus on positivity, engagement and having fun with our students.”
