Chris Roman — Executive Editor

“What were we thinking?” It’s a question administrators and prom planners

must be asking themselves after Shwayze delivered an explicit – but not completely unexpected – performance at this year’s prom. 

Almost everyone appreciates the prom committee’s move to hire a live performer. But Shwayze? One visit to iTunes – not to mention the Internet – and you’d have to think twice before booking him for a high school dance.

On paper, it wasn’t supposed to go like this. Shwayze’s contract said he would keep all songs at a ‘PG-13’ rating. Prom planners would not release the contract but said that this meant “no sexual, drug or alcohol references.” Shwayze broke his contract right after the first song. Not surprising when you look at his song collection. Shwayze’s songs titled “High Together” and “Mary Jane,” (code for marijuana), are just two of Shwayze’s numerous songs that refer to drug and alcohol use countless times.

Sex is far from off-limits as well. Consider “My Girl,” a “tear jerking” ballad that describes what it feels like for a guy to find out his girlfriend likes girls … a lot. The song proceeds to offer some “interesting” ways to remedy a situation like this.

Need more evidence that Shwayze won’t hold back on sexually-explicit lyrics? Visit his “official” Web site, and you’ll see a flickering neon sign advertising “Hot Oral Sex.” In fact, Shwayze sidekick Cisco Adler even stated “I’m definitely endorsing that kind of behavior” when asked about sexual references in his songs.

How could the prom committee not realize that Shwayze was going to breech his contract? It was a disaster waiting to happen. You could argue that it was a really fun disaster, but that’s about it. Hiring a performer with a reputation like Shwayze’s was not the best move, but students did really enjoy the dance. Let’s hope that next year’s prom committee takes both of those facts into account.