There may be a new slogan catching on for Thon weekend. In addition to FTK, the event may also be FTS: for the senses.

The Thon Entertainment Committee has worked to bring a variety of music, dancing and fun to entertain all participants, from the audience in the stands to the kids on the floor.

Ian Rickenbach (senior-chemical engineering), the Thon overall Entertainment Chair, is pleased with his committee's work.

"I have a really good feeling that it's going to be unbelievable this year," he said. "Every captain, every committee member, every overall -- we put in a lot of work this year."

Tom Waidelich, Thon Local Entertainment Captain, said finding talent starts when organizations that want to perform e-mail the committee. But for the most part, the committee does the searching.

Through the selection process, Rickenbach said they searched hard for a wide range of performers that could entertain the diverse audience.

"One big thing I stressed this year was variety, so it wouldn't be the same old thing through the weekend," he said. "Our goal is to keep everyone entertained, like during the day, we try to get some more kid-friendly stuff."

To tackle every entertainment aspect of Thon, there are captains in charge of everything from celebrity recruitment to getting student clubs to perform.

Waidelich (junior-industrial engineering) is one of the captains organizing club performances for the event.

"We work with dance groups, any kind of clubs that are on campus," he said. "If it's a high energy group, we'll put them in the early hours when the dancers get tired, to pump them up."

Tracey Morgenstern (senior-media studies) is a captain involved in finding bands to perform at Thon.

"We just make sure they're appropriate, upbeat, and they all have to be cover bands," she said.

Featuring bands like Lemonsoul and Go Go Gadjet, some of the musical performers will be traveling from as far as Reading and West Chester, Morgenstern said.

"We have bands pretty diverse in sounds," she said. "That way, not everyone's playing the same song over and over."

The dancers may have more reason than usual to be pumped up this year. Alaina De Rosa (senior-hotel, restaurant and institutional management) has embraced the new position of Floor Entertainment Captain.

"We're going to provide [the dancers with] a place to do some stuff and keep them occupied throughout the weekend," she said. "We have acts that come onto the floor that'll teach dancers to do stuff."

As for who, what, where and when the entertainment will be performing, most of it is top secret, so not to spoil the surprise for the audience or the dancers.

One thing that isn't top secret is the highlight of the weekend, the pep rally, during which the Entertainment Committee is encouraging audience members to take part in a whiteout from 6 p.m.-12 a.m. Saturday night.

"We felt that during the pep rally, it'd be a cool time to show Penn State pride," Rickenbach said. "We do it during sporting events, so why not during Thon?"

As for the rest of the entertainment, dancers and onlookers alike will have to wait until Thon weekend to experience the spectacle.

"We really tried to put on a whole new thing this year," Waidelich said. "The entire 46 hours of Thon will be just a constant show."