As the end of the semester approaches and prelims and incoming deadlines draw near, I went to see the #OpenToWork concert by the Mediocre Melodies. Amid the frenzy of the semester, Mediocre Melodies promised a night of ‘average’ a cappella, full of laughs — the perfect combination of comedy and music to lighten your swamped schedule.
The theme for their April 17 concert, #OpenToWork, offered a playful twist on the pressures of the job market and recruitment season. Caleb Brown ’29 said, "We're all about being satirical … and Cornell’s a place where a lot of us spend our time being busy, doing work and being professional. There are not a lot of opportunities to remove yourself from those environments. We thought, ‘How cool would it be if we maintained that and made it into something fun instead of stressful and torturous?’"
The seats of Kennedy Hall’s Call Auditorium were packed row to row as the lights dimmed and the opening video began. Looking around, I saw students, alumni and family members watching eagerly. They started off the show strong, featuring satirical yet relatable bits about bombing interviews, selling their souls to Goldman Sachs and feeling the pressure to land a job while making no real progress. The lighthearted jokes and the sharply accurate scenes had the crowd laughing nonstop.
This was my first time attending one of their concerts, so I wasn’t sure what to expect — or just how "mediocre" they would be. Right after the video, the singers entered from the back of the auditorium, walking down the aisles to the stage. Their first performance, “Bills, Bills, Bills” by Destiny’s Child, was perfectly on theme. Their approach to singing was an experience, to say the least. Classic elements of a cappella rang true, with the singers separated into high, medium, semi-low and low categories, echoing the traditional soprano, alto, tenor and bass structure. Despite discordant singing, their energy throughout the performance was unmatched, immediately signaling that the night would be anything but dull.
Considering the ‘bad’ singing and the packed auditorium, it raised the question: Do these attendees really come for the music? Kayton Buerlein ’27, the president of Mediocre Melodies, offered some insight into the group’s appeal: "We try to be as funny as possible. I feel like that's our main bit. Also, we donate all our proceeds to charity, so that makes people want to come out even though we aren’t great singers. I think we’re more comedy than an a cappella group; we call ourselves a comedy a cappella group, so the humor has to be good for that.”
In fact, Buerlein herself introduced their partner charity for the semester, Challenge Contract Staffing, which provides individuals facing barriers to employment with essential on-the-job training for their career paths — sticking true to their theme. As the show progressed, Mediocre Melodies demonstrated their dedication to charitable fundraising. Not only were all ticket sales donated, but singers also presented sweet and entertaining opportunities to donate throughout the night. From a competition where top donations earned an on-stage serenade to auctions of merchandise, a coffee chat or even a member taking his shirt off, Mediocre Melodies crowdfunded as if they were making the profits. Their sense of humor was truly carried into every aspect of their show, proving to be an incredible success, with some auctions reaching as high as $160.
Their concert continued with money and career-based songs like “Billionaire” by Bruno Mars or “Price Tag” by Jessie J, each followed by a video skit. Each song featured five students singing the lyrics while the rest provided the backtrack, keeping to the iconic a cappella approach. Meanwhile, each skit never failed to make the crowd burst into laughter, featuring pantsless Zoom interviews, satirical infomercials and the fabled return offer.
Considering the disjointed singing but meticulous details, I wanted to understand the effort put into preparation. Casey Samuels ’28 spoke about their practice schedules, saying, “This week, we practiced every night, around two hours. Before that, it was two to three hours a week. So I’d say one week of really hard work.” Despite the promise of mediocrity and delivering an intentionally unpolished show, every skit, song and even the choice of charity was deliberate, reflecting the hard work behind the concert.
At Cornell, where competition and comparison often run high, Mediocre Melodies remind us to laugh at ourselves and pause from our scramble for success. Whether they're mocking recruitment culture or leaning into bits like the low singers grunting before each song, Mediocre Melodies is a great way to spend your Friday evening — and will surely cause you to momentarily forget your job market search. For a group of so-called “bad singers for a good cause,” Mediocre Melodies bring just as much joy as your regular a cappella show — only with the guarantee that your laughs and contributions support something far more impactful than the music alone.
Alessandra Ferrer is a freshman in the Brooks School of Public Policy. She can be reached at alf263@cornell.edu.
