From the moment the artist was revealed as this year’s Spring Fest performer at the Student Activities Council’s (SAC) and Mercyhurst Student Government’s (MSG) Launch Party, which you probably shouldn’t have missed because there was great food, students have expressed concerns ranging from “Can Sean Kingston perform live?” to “Is he even relevant?”

There have been numerous articles in The Merciad that have voiced concerned over the selection of Kingston, some of which I feel may be a premature assessment of the 2012 Spring Fest line up.

Here’s a crazy thought: what if Kingston will do a great job at Spring Fest? I would like to humbly request that my fellow Lakers give him a chance.

Look, we’re not Harvard. There’s no way we have the 32 billion dollar endowment to afford Yeezy (Kanye West for you mere mortals) for Spring Fest, but Kingston is kind of a pretty big deal.

Sean Kingston is no one-hit wonder. “Beautiful Girls” peaked at #1, “Fire Burning” hit #5 and “Me Love” made it all the way to #14. He did all of this within the last five years. He was also the first artist born in the 1990s to top the Hot 100. That’s pretty relevant, if you ask me.

Most, if not all reviews, of Kingston’s live performances that I have come across have been extremely positive. Many of the comments on Ticketmaster.com rave about his tremendous levels of energy and audience involvement.

Concerts are mostly about the atmosphere, and if Kingston can effectively excite a crowd, that’s good enough for me.

His songs, although some may be repetitive in beat and style, are catchy.

It’s easy for audience members not previously exposed to his music to get into to it. He can easily appeal to a broad audience, which in my mind makes him not only a good choice on the part of the students planning the concert, but a great choice many students can appreciate.

I commend MSG Events Coordinator Shannon Kissel and SAC Chair Jenna Dascanio on their decision to select Kingston as this year’s Spring Fest performer.

This concert is going to be great. You’ll regret it if you miss out. Although many have been “under whelmed” by Kingston’s selection by Kissel and Dascanio, I urge you to give him a chance.