Friday marked the (virtual) kick off this year’s edition of THON. Despite the lack of dancers and spectators in the Bryce Jordan Center, the energy was still there on 46Live’s stream.

So as day two is finally upon us, let’s take a look back at all the events from day one of THON 2021.

Blog Was Ready Bright And Early

After 363 days of idling, the blog’s THON-specific Twitter account was up bright and early ready for the start of THON 2021. THONward and thupward!

State College Became The City of THON

As per tradition, State College mayor Ron Filippelli renamed State College the “City of THON” ’til the end of THON on Sunday. The tradition started back in 2015 and has become a staple to start THON weekend.

Dancers Stand Up

At 6 p.m, dancers from across the state, country, and world stood up for the beginning of THON 2021. Dancer Relations captains took the stage a couple of minutes later and lead the first line dance of the weekend.

This year’s edition of the line dance included plenty of references to the coronavirus, an homage to everybody’s favorite UPS man, and a salute to all health care workers.

Musical Performances

The first day of THON saw a handful of great musical performances. We had some great solo performances from artists like Christian Sparacio and a very entertaining tap dancing performance all the way from Ireland.

The headline performance was from Quinn XCII. The Detroit native serenaded the virtual crowd with some of his classic hits such as “Straightjacket”, “Another Day in Paradise”, and “A Letter To My Younger Self.” He also let out a “We Are” chant to the virtual crowd, but was one “We Are” short and didn’t thank the crowd.

The blog’s favorite performance came from cover band OK Otter. The band, comprised of Penn State alumni and parents, performed lots of laid-back classics. After the stream went dark, OK Otter had the blog deep in its feels.

Games, Games, Games

We got to witness some students go head-to-head in games like Family Feud. After a minor glitch in the game that ended up displaying the wrong answers to the questions, the folks at 46Live were able to get everything back on track. Despite that, we are still upset at last year’s edition of Family Feud where Faccia Luna was disrespected to the highest degree.

Livestream Goes Dark

At around midnight the live stream went dark, thus ending the first day of 2021. Dancers got back on their feet at 6 a.m.