As the curtains opened, the 30 girls of Coppell High School’s Respira choir commanded stage in different blue, purple and green dresses to show that they really do ‘Run the World’.

The Respira choir performed at its annual Dessert Show and Silent Auction in the Coppell High School auditorium on Nov. 18-19.

It was filled with various duets, solos and group performances, showcasing the versatile talent in the choir group.

At the start of Act I, the choir sang and danced to “Get On Your Feet” by Gloria Estefan. The explosive number was filled with dancing and hand claps that engaged the audience.

As the first song ended, the spotlight shone on freshman Anna Marie Fernandez at the side of the stage, signifying a new song. Singing “The Way You Look Tonight” by Frank Sinatra as solo on piano, Fernandez immediately drew the crowd in with her moving performance.

The next song, “Wake Me Up” by Avicii, showcased the entire Respira choir. It was acapella which made the performance even more crowd-pleasing.

“My favorite song to sing during the show was Wake Me Up,” junior Respira member Aditi Jain said. “It just sounded so beautiful and I really enjoyed singing it.”

Following the acapella number, junior Riya Mahesh sang a powerful solo “They Just Keep Moving the Line” from the Broadway musical “Smash”. The Broadway reminiscent performance brought in many cheers from the crowd because her amazing vocals.

The song was followed by a rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”.

CHS choir director Joshua Brown then came up to the stage to congratulate the hard work the girls put into and dismissed the crowd for the intermission.

Parents and friends wore their “Respira Royalty” shirts to show support for the all-girls choir.

“I really enjoyed the show as a whole,” CHS junior Alice Duong said. “The music and dances were really good, along with the desserts, and it was a fun experience.”

The intermission was in the CHS cafeteria and guests were welcome to pick their choice of dessert such as brownies, chocolate cake and cookies for free. There were also silent auction prizes that guests could bid on, in support of the Coppell Choir.

“It was great to see the different performances that they put on,” parent Prasanna Waranashiwar said. “It is just amazing to see because I know how much effort they put into their performances.”

After the quick intermission, Act II started with an energetic “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” by Queen.

The next song “I Was Made For Loving You” by Tori Kelly featuring Ed Sheeran was a duet between juniors Tori Kennedy and Steve Koshy. Kennedy sang solo for the first quarter of the song, then guest singer Koshy came out for the duet.

The emotional performance from the duet induced cheers from the crowd.

Next, the entire group came up to the stage to sing the classic “What A Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong. Senior Respira members wore their overalls for the number.

A video presentation followed the performance, showing pictures of the girls’ from their rehearsals leading up to this show.

Up next was an unforgettable performance by a duet consisting of senior Allison Davis and junior Macy Johnson. They sang “Nowadays” from the Broadway musical “Chicago”. The performance was followed by the two then tap dancing on stage. The performance elicited a number of yells and whistles from the crowd.

To conclude the show, the girls sang “Run the World” by Beyoncé. They were dressed in camo outfits and channeled some of Beyoncé’s signature dance moves from the song.

“So many people showed up and we really did our very best to perform in front of that crowd,” Jain said. “We’ve really put a lot of effort into it and I think it paid off.”