Lexington cheerleading team’s music didn’t play at nationals. The show went on.
When their music didn’t play at a national competition, Paul Laurence Dunbar High School’s cheerleading team proved that the show must go on.
The Lexington squad got several shoutouts online for counting out its routine after a technical problem kept its music from playing when it took the floor at the UCA National High School Cheerleading Division 1 Championship in Orlando, Florida, on Friday.
“When the music messes up … you hit anyway!” Dunbar Cheer said in a Facebook post.
The team advanced to the semifinals and competed again Saturday, said Donna Martin, a longtime coach for the team.
She said they’d learn later Saturday night if they have advanced to the next round of competition.
“We did really well,” she said. “I’d call it a hit.”
The team waited for what seemed like an excruciating length of time for its music to start before its performance Friday. It never did.
A TikTok video clip of the competition, which had been viewed more than 230,000 times by Saturday evening, shows a moment of confusion as a girl can be heard asking, “Can we count?”
And then they did, shouting, “One, three, five, seven!” as they showed off their stunts and tumbling skills.
“It was pretty exhausting,” Martin said. “The crowd helped them count, and they got through it.”
She said it turned out the music equipment was unplugged.
“We always tell them to count if the music goes off,” she said, but “you’re not prepared for a whole minute and 45 seconds of counting.”
“Proud of our cheerleaders who pushed through and were outstanding despite technical errors! The best of the best!” a post on the high school’s Facebook page read.
The Dunbar cheerleading team has won eight national championships in past years, as well as a world title.
