Despite acts such as Carrie Underwood, Imagine Dragons and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis being eliminated as prospective artists, Georgia Southern University students can still anticipate a concert springing forth this semester.

“Unfortunately because of how long our process took, we went through several options that were actually on the poll. We thought rather than picking someone that students clearly did not favor, let’s try to see what our other options are. So it’ll be someone that is off the poll but we still think it’ll be an exciting show,” said Tina Powellson, Ph.D., executive director of the Office of Student Activities.

The spring concert show is set to take place May 2, however the headliner will not be someone students originally voted on.

Even though the headliner will not be revealed until a later date, Powellson believes it is a big enough name to excite students and bring them to Allen E. Paulson Stadium for an enjoyable show.

“We’re working on finalizing our opener, which is another semi-big name and possibly having a third smaller act, so we’re having a three-show line up. We’re pretty excited about students and their reactions,” Powellson said. “We’re using student activities fees. We want [students] to come and get a discounted, amazing show experience. That would be great.”

This past October, students were able to log onto their MyInvolvement page and vote for the artist they would like to see perform at the spring concert, but because of complications such as scheduling and budgeting, the artist chosen to perform was not someone listed on the poll.

The Office of Student Activities will announce the artists at a later date.

Keeping the budget in mind, it is not only important to book someone students will be excited about but it is also important to book someone who faculty, staff and the Statesboro community will come see, Justin Jeffery, assistant director of the Office of Student Activities, said.

The budget includes money for the actual performing artist, as well as money for expenses such as production and lighting.

“A lot of times what we try to do is catch people on the tour path because that allows our cost to go down because sometimes they carry production,” Jeffery said.

While many universities do not provide concerts of such magnitude to their students, GSU capitalizes on delivering such programs because those shows help with recruiting and enticing new students as well as drawing money from donors and sponsors for scholarships, Jeffery said.

Jeffery said, “Be proud of what your institution is doing. You may not love the artist. [The artist] may not be the one you chose in the poll but this is an awesome thing for Georgia Southern.”