This Saturday, HUB Alumni Hall will echo with the sounds of some of top collegiate a cappella groups in the country.

The groups will compete in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) as Penn State plays host to this year's mid-Atlantic quarterfinals.

Two of the groups include Penn State's own Pennharmonics and Shades of Blue, who will be competing against four other musical ensembles: Villanova University's Supernovas, Miami University of Ohio's Misfitz, Lafayette's Quintessence and University of Pittsburgh's Sounds of Pleasure. Greg Heleniak directs the Pennharmonics, Penn State's coed a cappella group whose repertoire is mostly contemporary. He said the event is a chance to see a different type of music that most people do not know about.

"Nobody realizes it until you see it," Heleniak said. "It gives you a real appreciation to hear songs you hear all of the time on the radio in a totally different way."

Heleniak said this is the fifth time the Pennharmonics have competed in the competition, earning a spot in the finals two years ago and the semifinals last year.

Haley Cammarata, ICCA mid-Atlantic producer, said all of the groups in this year's competition were selected based on CDs and biographies they submitted.

"Everyone has to go through a process to get into this competition," she said. "After the director goes through and selects the qualifying groups, they are placed into their selected locations for the quarterfinals."

Groups from six different regions will compete to earn a spot at the final competition in New York City this April.

But in order to get there, the groups must first find a way to wow the judges while following specific guidelines.

"Everyone's allowed 12 minutes for their set," Cammarata said. "For every minute over, they fall one level down in the final placement. So you could really get first place, but if you run over, you're knocked down to second."

Supernovas President Nicholas Medaglio said it's also important that the groups keep their performances "family friendly."

The Supernovas plan to sing Kelly Clarkson's "Behind These Hazel Eyes," Evanescence's "Bring Me to Life" and MTV's 2gether's "The Hardest Part of Breaking Up."

"Villanova doesn't have a music major, so we're just a group of people that love to perform. We're a young group from different majors, and we're all just doing it for fun," Medaglio said. "I'm really excited to hear what other people are bringing to the competition."

Jen North, of the Misfitz, an all-female group, said she thinks all of the groups in this year's competition will put on a fantastic show.

"Since we're a female group, we're looking to see what the other female group, Sounds of Pleasure, does," she said. "People are going to go and see six groups that are all really qualified to be there, and everyone's bringing something different to the table."

Heleniak said the Pennharmonics have competed in the Midwest in the past, so he'll be seeing the other mid-Atlantic contestants for the first time Saturday.

"It's really going to be interesting to see how all of these groups approach a cappella," he said. "We have some jazz groups, contemporary and pop groups, and if it's anything like last year, there'll barely be any room to stand in Alumni Hall."

The Pennharmonics plan to sing a pop set including Styx's "Mr. Roboto," U2's "Elevation" and Roxette's "Listen to Your Heart."

"With the choreography and music, the energy at this show is just going to be incredible," Heleniak said. "I promise if you have never been introduced to this style before, it will bring a whole new way to look at music."