February 15, 2013 at 6:23 PM

Pre-THON activities started at about 5:30 p.m. Friday to the delight of an excited crowd in the Bryce Jordan Center.

Four different student groups performed routines during the half-hour leading up to the moment when the dancers stood.

Pre-THON started off with a dance routine by a group of female dancers who were accompanied by a singer, guitarist and keyboardist playing an acoustic version of Swedish House Mafia's "Don't You Worry Child."

The second performance was from the Blue Band Drumline who drummed along to the popular song "Cinema" by Skrillex.

The crowd in the BJC erupted as the Nittany Lion joined the drumline on stage and breakdanced toward the end of the their performance.

The next two dance groups performed routines to high-energy songs that kept the crowd entertained.

"Don't You Worry Child" by Swedish House Mafia was brought back another time at the end of Pre-THON when all the groups who performed took turns dancing to the popular song.

After the groups performed, the Nittany Lion was brought on stage to the tune of "Hail to the Lion."

The THON 2013 Overall committee was then introduced individually by DJ Larry Moore before starting the countdown for the dancers to stand.